UC-NRLF 


':;!iJiiii;ii;iilllllli 
B    3    flbl    SMM 


PENNSYLVANIA 

AND  ITS 

MANIFOLD 

ACTIVITIES 


Prepared  by 
GUY  C.  WHIDDEN 

and 

WILFRED  H.SCHOFF 

For  the 

12th  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS 
OF  NAVIGATION 


PUBLISHED     BY    THE    LOCAL    ORGANIZING 
COMMISSION    OF     THE    CONGRESS 

PHILADELPHIA 
MAY    1912 


Copyright,  1912 

by  the 

Local  Organizing  Commission  of  the 

12th  International  Congress 

of  Navigation 


Foreword 

THE  occasion  for  the  publication 
of  this  book,  which  is  intended 
to  i^ive  an  understandinir  of  the 
resources  and  activities  of  the 
State  of  Pennsylvania,  is  the  meeting  of  the 
Twelfth  International  Congress  of  Navigation 
in  the  City  of  Philadelphia.  Owing  to  the 
nature  of  this  gathering,  somewhat  greater 
attention  has  been  paid  to  the  subject  of  trans- 
portation than  would  naturally  be  given  in  a 
general  work  dealing  with  the  resources  and 
development  of  the  State. 

It  is  impossible  to  give,  within  the  limits  of 
a  single  volume,  an  exhaustive  view  of  the 
material  wealth  and  the  varied  interests  of  Penn- 
sylvania. Much  has  been  omitted ;  and  those 
subjects  only  have  been  selected  that  seemed  to 
be  most  in  keeping  with  the  purpose  of  the 
volume.  Liberal  excerpts  have  been  used  from 
many  and  varied  volumes  and  documents.  The 
thanks  of  those  who  have  had  in  charge  the 
preparation  of  the  work  are  extended  to  all 
who  have  lent  their  aid. 


3 

242494 


Contents 

Page 

INTRODUCTION    7 

NATURAL  RESOURCES  OF  PENNSYLVANIA 

Bituminous  Coal  Production 15 

The  Anthracite  Field   23 

Iron  and  Other  ]\Iine  Wealth   31 

Conservation  of  Forest  Wealth   39 

The  Advance  of  a  Giant  Industry 45 

Susquehanna  Power — Water  Supply 57 

TRANSPORTATION  IN  PENNSYL\'ANIA 

The  Ruins  of  a  Once  Great  System 65 

A  Survivor  of  the  Canal-Railroad  War 75 

The  Pennsylvania  Railroad  83 

Philadelphia  and  Reading  Railway  Company 93 

Other  Railroad  Lines  107 

The  Intracoastal  Canal  Chain   113 

The  Ohio  and  Its  Tributaries 125 

The  Gateway  to  the  Sea  133 

The  Port  of  Philadelphia  145 

Lake  Erie  and  Ohio  River  Ship  Canal 151 

THE  INDUSTRIES  OF  PENNSYLVANIA 

An  Industrial  Commonwealth 161 

The  State's  Steel-Making  History   167 

The  Steel  Industry   177 

Iron  and  Steel  Products 187 

Ships  and  Locomotives 201 

The  Textile  Industries 209 

Diversity  of  Manufactures  215 


Cdit  tents 

THE  CITI  i:S  (  )!•   'II 1  !•:  (■(  ).M  AK  )X\VEALTH 

Page 

Two  Cknti-:rs  of  IxDUSTin'   225 

Pennsylvania  Cities 231 

Thriving  Smaller  Communities  241 

SPECIAL  ACTINITIES  CW  THE  COMMONWEALTH 

Protection  of  Health   249 

The  State  Highways  255 


EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANLA 

The  State  and  the  Schools 261 

Colleges  of  Pennsylvania   267 

Special  Schools  and  Colleges 281 


Introduction 

THOSE  who,  in  the  early  days,  termed  Pennsylvania  the  Key- 
stone State  were,  it  would  seem,  governed  by  something  more 
than  the  mere  thought  of  its  geographical  position  as  related 
to  the  others  of  the  thirteen  original  States.  They  seemed,  with  pro- 
phetic vision,  to  look  into  the  future— to  foresee  the  important  place 
which  this  Commonwealth  was  destined  to  hold  in  the  completed  union 
of  States. 

From  the  first  Continental  Congress,  in  1774,  to  the  present  time, 
there  is  a  space  of  less  than  a  century  and  a  half.  Yet,  in  the  history 
of  Pennsylvania,  the  progress  of  centuries  has  been  packed  into  this 
period.  Vast  natural  riches,  that  were  peculiarly  suited  to  the  building 
of  an  industrial  commonwealth,  were  here  placed  in  the  keeping  of  a 
fusion  of  races  such  as  would  naturally  make  an  industrious  population. 
And  the  result  is  the  Pennsylvania  of  to-day — the  keystone  of  the  nation's 
industry.  In  every  department  of  activity  the  State  has  broadened  with 
the  growth  of  its  population  and  wealth. 

The  State  of  Pennsylvania  lies  between  latitudes  39°  43'  26.3"  and 
42°  north  and  between  longitudes  74°  40"  and  80°  31'  36"  west.  It 
has  the  form  of  a  parallelogram,  except  that  in  the  northwest  part  there  is 
a  triangular  projection  northward,  giving  a  shore  line  of  about  forty 
miles  on  Lake  Erie.  Its  main  northern  and  southern  boundaries  are 
157.76  miles  apart.  Its  average  length  is  285.85  miles.  Its  extreme 
length,  from  the  Ohio  State  line  to  a  point  below  Trenton,  is  306  miles. 
The  total  area  is  45,126  square  miles,  and  of  this  294  square  miles  are 
water  surface,  and  44,832  square  miles  land  surface.  The  mean  eleva- 
tion of  the  State  is  iioo  feet  above  sea  level.  From  an  elevation  of 
twenty  feet  or  less  on  the  banks  of  the  Delaware,  between  Philadelphia 
and  Chester,  the  country  rises  to  a  height  of  2000  to  3000  feet  on  the 
higher  Appalachian  ridges  in  the  middle  section.  On  Blue  Knob,  in 
Bedford  County,  a  summit  of  the  Alleghenies,  it  reaches  an  elevation  of 
3136  feet.  On  the  Ohio  border  it  falls  again  to  900  to  1000  feet,  and  on 
the  Erie  plain  to  750  feet.  The  southeastern  part  of  the  State  has  an 
area  of  6100  square  miles  that  has  a  mean  elevation   of  less  than   500 


Pennsylvania  and  Its  Manifold  Activities 


Iiitri)ditcti()ii 

feet  above  tlie  sea.  In  the  middle  of  the  State  there  is  an  area  of  2000 
square  miles  that  everywhere  exceeds  2000  feet  in  elevation.  The  Appa- 
lachian system,  which  embraces  the  eastern  mountains  of  the  United 
States,  attains  its  greatest  width  within  the  borders  of  the  State.  The 
great  ridges  of  this  system  extend  slantingly  across  the  State,  from  the 
northeast  toward  the  southwest. 

The  State  may  be  divided  into  three  topographical  regions.  The 
first  includes  all  that  portion  between  the  tidewater  reach  of  the  Delaware 
River  and  the  Kittatinny  Mountain,  ascending  northwestwardly  to  an 
average  elevation  of  about  500  feet  in  Kittatinny  Valley. 

The  second  region  is  a  belt  of  ridge  and  hollow  averaging  50  miles 
in  width.  This  starts  from  the  Delaware  River,  bordering  F^ike  and 
Wayne  counties,  and,  extending  westward  and  southward,  passes  into 
Maryland  240  miles  from  the  point  of  beginning.  This  huge  welt  across 
the  State  appears  to  have  been  bulged  up  in  the  making  by  pressure  from 
the  southeast.     This  belt  has  an  area  of  11,808  square  miles. 

The  last  and  largest  distinct  topographical  region  is  the  Allegheny 
Upland.  Generally  this  is  a  high  plain,  undulating  in  wide,  low  swells, 
and  gently  descending  southward  and  southwestward.  In  the  valleys 
proper  of  the  Ohio  and  its  main  Pennsylvania  affluents,  the  relief  of 
the  country  is  very  uniform.  The  area  of  the  Allegheny  Upland  is  24.861 
square  miles,  or  about  55  per  cent,  of  the  area  of  the  Commonwealth. 

Generally,  the  northeastern  portion  of  the  Allegheny  plateau  and 
nearly  all  of  the  central  and  southeastern  portions  of  the  State  are 
drained  by  the  Susquehanna  and  Delaware  River  systems  into  the  Dela- 
ware and  Chesapeake  Bays.  The  greater  part  of  the  Allegheny  plateau 
is  drained  by  the  Allegheny  and  Monongahela  Rivers  into  the  Ohio 
River.  The  southern  portions  of  the  central  part  of  the  State  are  drained 
by  tributaries  of  the  Potomac.  The  Erie  plain  is  drained  by  short 
streams  into  Lake  Erie,  and  a  small  section  of  the  Allegheny  plateau, 
in  the  northern  part  of  Potter  County,  is  drained  by  the  Genesee  River 
into  Lake  Ontario.  The  Susquehanna  drains  about  21,000  square  miles 
of  the  State;  the  Ohio.  Allegheny,  and  Alonongahela,  14,747.  and  the 
Delaware,  6443. 

The  history  of  the  settlement  of  Pennsylvania  dates  back  to  1623. 
Between  that  year  and  1681  trading  posts  were  established  by  the 
Swedes  and  the  Dutch  along  the  lower  valley  of  the  Delaware  River. 
As  early  as  1660  George  Fox  and  a  few  other  prominent  Quakers 
began  to  urge  the  establishment  of  a  colony  to  serve  as  a  refuge    for 


Pciiiisyli'uiiid  (111(1  Its  Manifold  .Ictiiitics 


Introduction 

Quakers.  At  least  as  early  as  1666,  ^\'illianl  Peiin  became  interested 
in  the  plan,  and  in  1680  he  was  granted,  in  repayment  of  a  claim  on  the 
Crown  for  £16,000,  "a  tract  of  land  in  America,  bounded  on  the  east 
by  the  Delaware,  on  the  west  limited  as  Marxland,  northward  as  far  as 
plantable." 

There  has  been  a  ])opular  belief  that  Pennsylvania  was  named  in 
honor  of  its  founder,  but.  in  fact,  "by  the  King's  order,  much  against 
Penn's  inclination,  the  new  province  was  to  be  called  Pennsylvania,  in 
honor  of  the  services  of  his  illustrious  father." 

Py  the  charter  of  Pennsylvania,  Penn  was  made  proprietary  of  the 
province.  During  Penn's  life  the  colony  was  involved  in  serious  boun- 
dary disputes,  and  it  was  not  until  1784  that  Virginia  agreed  to  the 
establishment  of  the  western  limit  as  it  now  is.  The  small  triangular 
strip  which  gives  the  State  access  to  Lake  Erie  was  sold  to  Pennsylvania 
by  the  Federal  Government  in   1792. 

The  scope  of  Penn's  early  plans  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that  he 
purposed  to  make  a  second  settlement  far  to  the  westward  of  Phila- 
delphia. This  was  to  have  been  on  the  Susquehanna,  and  as  early  as 
i()S7  a  "way"  had  been  "laid  out"  from  Philadelphia  westward  to  the 
proposed  location.  The  plan  of  a  second  I'hiladelphia,  however,  was 
not  to  be  carried  out  by  the  founder. 

In  every  great  crisis  of  national  history  Pennsylvania  has  borne  an 
important  part.  The  State  contributed  greatly  to  the  success  of  the 
War  for  Independence  bv  the  important  services  rendered  by  its  states- 
men, notal)l}'  the  great  philoso})her-statesman.  l^enjamin  Franklin.  One 
of  her  citizens,  Robert  Morris,  was  the  financier  of  the  Revolution.  The 
two  Continental  Congresses,  that  of  1774  and  that  of  1775-1781,  met  in 
Phila(!el]-hia.  except  for  the  months  when  the  city  was  occupied  by  the 
British  army.  During  that  period  the  Continental  Congress  met  first  in 
Lancaster,  then  in  York,  and  then  in  Princeton,  N.  J.  The  Declaration 
of  Independence  was  signed  in  Philadelphia,  and  was,  from  the  day  of 
its  signing,  supported  by  Pennsylvania.  Philadelphia  was  the  seat  of  the 
Federal  Government,  except  for  a  brief  period,  until  the  removal  to 
Washington,  in  1800.  The  winter  of  suffering  passed  at  Valley  Forge 
by  Washington's  army  was  the  turning  point  of  the  Revolution. 

During  the  Civil  War,  the  State  gave  to  the  Union  336,000  soldiers ; 
and  one  of  the  decisive  battles  of  the  war  was  fought  within  her  borders, 
at  Gettvsburg.  where  Lee's  invasion  was  checked  and  turned.    The  Union 


Peinisyiz'ania  and  Its  Manifold  .Ictizities 

Army,  at  this  !)attk'.  was  CdiiimaiKk-d  by  a  I 'enns\l\anian.  Maj.  ( jcn. 
George  G.  Meade. 

l'enns\ivania  now  ranks  seennd  in  popukiliim  ani(:)n<^  the  States, 
having  '.()()=,. \\\  peopk-  within  its  horck'rs.  Of  this  nuniljer,  3,653,371, 
or  47.8  per  eeiit.,  are  lu-han  jxipulation,  and  4,01  1,740.  or  52.2  per  cent., 
are  rural  popuhitinn.  ( )wing  to  its  central  position,  its  liberal  govern- 
ment, and  its  ])<)licv  of  religious  toleration,  Penn.sylvania  attracted,  in  the 
earlier  period,  many  of  the  best  races  of  western  Europe — English, 
(jermans.  Dutch,  Swedes,  Welsh,  Irish,  and  Scotch-Irish.  These  have 
now  merged  into  one  general  type. 

With  access  to  the  Great  Lakes  and  the  Ohio,  and  thus  with  the 
Mississii)i)i,  at  the  west,  and  to  the  Atlantic  at  the  east,  Pennsylvania  has 
been  favorably  located  for  the  rapid  development  of  its  vast  natural 
wealth.  From  the  beginning  of  its  era  of  prosperity,  its  people  were 
keenly  alive  to  the  importance  of  these  waterways  in  the  scheme  of 
development.  Its  early  canal  chain  was  a  marvel  of  the  period  in  which 
it  flourished.  The  State  has  steadily  insisted  upon  the  adequate  improve- 
ment of  its  great  artery  to  the  sea,  the  Delaware  River.  Important 
waterway  improvements  are  to-day  in  contemplation,  and  others  in 
progress,  at  both  ends  of  the  State. 

The  interest  that  is  now  manifested  throughout  Pennsylvania  in 
the  development  of  waterways  makes  it  peculiarly  appropriate  that  the 
most  notable  gathering  of  navigation  experts  in  the  history  of  the  United 
States  should  be  held  in  Philadelphia. 


NATURAL   RESOURCES 

OF 

PENNSYLVANIA 


VV.VI.    HOWARD   TAir 

President  of  the  United  States 
Honorary  President  of  Tlie  Co 


JOHN    k      I PNtR 

Governor  of   Pennsylvania 

Hon.  Vice-President  of  The  Congress 


RUDOLPH   BLANKENBURG 

Mayor  of  Philadelphia 

Hon.  Vice-Pres.  of  The  Congress 


J.   S.   W.   HOl/rON 

Chairman  of  the  Executive 

Conitnittee 


VV.    T.    1  U.UEN 

Vice-Pres.  of  the  Local  Organizing 

Commission 


Bituminous  Coal  Production 

RWKIXG  first  among  the  natural  resources  of  Pennsylvania  are 
the  deposits  of  coal,  which  have  been  so  important  a  factor  in 
.  the  development  of  its  industries.  While  the  export  of  coal, 
both  bituminous  and  anthracite,  beyond  the  borders  of  the  State  has 
been  an  important  element  in  the  growth  of  material  prosperity,  the 
main  value  of  these  extensive  deposits  has  been  their  power  to  attract 
and  create  manufactures.  The  coal  of  Pennsylvania  has  drawn  within 
the  borders  of  the  State  many  important  industries  which  in  magnitude 
exceed  those  of  any  other  State  in  the  Union.  Behind  the  making  of  a 
vast  array  of  the  more  delicate  lines  of  merchandise,  behind  the  building 
of  products  of  steel,  is  the  coal  that  underlies  the  hills  of  the  State. 

The  anthracite  deposits  of  Pennsylvania  are  located  in  the  north- 
eastern part  of  the  State,  in  the  counties  of  Susquehanna,  Lackawanna, 
Luzerne,  Carbon,  Schuylkill,  Columbia,  Sullivan,  Northumberland, Wayne, 
and  Dauphin,  while  the  bituminous  regions  are  in  the  central  and  western 
portions  of  the  State,  their  importance  in  production  increasing  from 
east  to  west.  The  Broad  Top  region,  in  Huntingdon,  Bedford,  and  Fulton 
counties,  stands  between  the  anthracite  coal  fields  of  the  northeast  and 
the  bituminous  coal  region  of  the  southwest,  its  coal  possessing  some  of 
the  qualities  of  the  other  two. 

Not  only  has  Pennsylvania  virtually  all  of  the  anthracite  of  the 
country,  but  it  has  also  the  thickest  bituminous  coal  measures.  These 
form  the  northern  extremity  of  the  Appalachian  coal  tield.  and  the  entire 
district  covers  an  area  of  15,000  square  miles. 

Anthracite  coal  was  discovered  as  early  as  1762,  near  what  is  now 
the  city  of  Wilkes-Barre.  Bituminous  coal  was  first  shipped  from  Pitts- 
burgh in  1803,  and  it  was  not  until  the  year  1840  that  the  mining  of 
bituminous  coal  in  Pennsylvania  assumed  sufficient  importance  to  give 
it  a  place  in  the  census  reports.  In  that  year  the  production  was  shown 
to  be  464,826  tons. 

Of  the  67  counties  in  Pennsylvania,  25  produce  bituminous  coal.  A 
comparison  of  the  figures  of  the  leading  States  gives  an  idea  of  the  extent 
of  the  industry  in  Pennsylvania.     The  production  for  the  United  States 


I'cniisxli'aiiia  aiui  Its  Manifold  .Icth'itics 

in  1908  was  415,842,698  tons,  and  of  tliis  amount  the  Pennsylvania  pro- 
duction was  114,937,375  tons,  or  more  than  one-quarter  of  the  total. 
The  production  in  the  State  in  1910  had  risen  to  148,770,858  tons.  This 
was  approximak'ly  the  same  as  the  production  of  1907,  which  year  closed 
a  i)erio(l  of  marked  industrial  expansion  throughout  the  country. 

In    1908  the   mines   of    Pennsylvania  produced   more   coal    than    the 


BITUMINOUS  COAL  MIXERS  AT  WORK  IX  ONE  OF  THE  MINES  OF  THE  PITTSBURGH- 
BUFFALO    COMPANY,    SHOWING    ACTUAL    WORKING    CONDITIONS    AT    THE 
FACE  OF  THE  COAL.      THIS   "rOOM"   HAS   JUST  BEEN   UNDERCUT 
AND   SHOT   DOWN,   AND  THE    MEN   ARE  READY   TO   LOAD 
THE    COAL    INTO    THE    MINE    CARS 

combined  production  of  all  the  countries  of  the  world  except  (ireat 
Britain,  (icrmanv.  and  Austria-Hungary.  It  was  in  that  year  five  times 
the  production  <;f  P>ance  and  seven  times  the  production  of  Russia. 

Owing,  largely,  to  the  suitability  of  the  coal  mined  in  Westmoreland 
and  Favette  Counties  for  conversion  into  Connellsville  coke,  these  two  are 
the  largest  bituminous  coal-producing  counties  of  the  State.  Fayette, 
which  leads  the  list  of  counties,  produces  31,487,141  tons.  Following 
Westmoreland  in  the  list  is  Allegheny  County,  which,  besides  developing 
the  greatest  volume  in  steel  tonnage  of  any  of  the  world's  centers,  ranks 
also  among  the  most  important  bitmninous  jiroducing  districts. 


16 


Bifitiiiitioiis   Coal   Production 

It  is  largely  due  to  the  coking  value  of  these  coals  that  Pennsyl- 
vania has  attracted  its  chain  of  steel  industries,  that  stretches  from  the 
Delaware,  on  the  east,  to  the  Ohio  line,  on  the  west.  The  Connellsville 
coke-producing  district  lies  in  Westmoreland  and  Fayette  counties.  The 
lower  Connellsville  district  is  south  of  the  Connellsville  district,  in  Fay- 
ette County.     The  production  of  coke  in  this  district  dates  back  to  1841. 


SliKTIXG     AX 


II     SHII'MEM      Mi       lUIIMINOUS     COAL, 
WESTERN     PEN  X  S  VEV  A  X I A 


Out  of  a  total  of  2,752,475  tons  of  coke  made  in  the  United  States  in 
1880,  Pennsylvania  produced  2,317,149  tons,  which  was  made  from 
3,608,095  tons  of  ccal.  In  1905  the  total  production  in  lYmnsylvania  was 
20,573,736  tons,  while  the  total  production  in  the  country  was  32,231,129 
tons.  The  1907  production  for  the  entire  country  was  40,779,564  tons. 
Of  this,  the  Pennsylvania  production  was  65  per  cent.,  or  26,513,214  tons. 
The  1910  production  of  coke  in  Pennsylvania  was  23,722,944  tons. 

The  following  table  shows  the  number  of  tons  of  coal  and  coke 
shipped  from  the  mines  of  the  various  districts,  the  total  number  of  tons 
mined  and  the  number  of  employees  in  these  districts  in   1910: 


17 


Pcniisyl-i'ililid  and  Jts  Maiiifold  .Ictiritics 

Number  of   Tons  Total  Prodiution  Tolal  I'rodiic-      Tons  of  Coal       Number  Number 

Districts                    of  Coal  Shipped  of  Coal  in  Tons  lion  of  Coke     Used  in  Manu-      of  Coke  of  Em- 

lo  Market  of  2000  Pounds  in   Ions        faclure  of  Coke        Ovens  iiloyees 

First     7,098,024  8,069,778  435.270          781,371          783  10,297 

Second     4,266,420  8,048,678  2,186,960      3,443,201       5,887  9,405 

Third     3,663,808  3,920,292     6,291 

Fourth     5,980,499  6,848,407  357>205         608,218         963  9,487 

Fifth    421,437  7,294,758  4,527,426      6,728,660      9,071  8,224 

Sixth     7,480,522  8,623,100  576,772         812,172          425  11,820 

Seventh    8,717,457  8,957,871      12,257 

Eighth     4.449.625  4.573,110     106  7,259 

Ninth     805,324  8,061,273  4,708,814      6,970,113       8,677  ^^,632 

Tenth     5,425.2io  6,129,293  309,474         489,413       1,230  10,233 

Eleventh    1,101,670  7,967,787  4,468,816      6,594,873     10,725  9,398 

Twelfth     6,951,138  8,474,646  654,639       1,130,017       2,357  11,166 

Thirteenth     ..     6,924,841  7,111,022  34,656           52,418         273  9,428 

Fourteenth    ...     7,277,618  7,571,493  886             1,476           33  8,658 

Fifteenth    6,594-532  7,043,101  144,474         226,299         482  10,101 

Sixteenth    1,868,361  9,625,918  5,050,615       7,462,376      8,760  11,188 

Seventeenth   . .     7,343,365  7,625,098     9,879 

Eighteenth    ...     3,585,449  3,783,271  75-338          113.902          260  6,114 

Nineteenth    ...     3.912,221  4,132,663  11,768            17,002           85  6,962 

Twentieth     .  .  .     6,164,717  6,382,133  40,158           60,298          195  7,459 

Twenty-first     .     8,146,037  8,527,166  139,673          209,884          217  9.230 


Totals,  1910.  .108,178,275      148,770,858     23,722,944     35.701,693     50,529     193,488 
Tlie  division  of  coal  production  by  counties  is  as  follows: 

Counties  Production 

Fayette   31,487,141 

Westmoreland    22,630,739 

Allegheny 18,710,783 

Washington 16,678,514 

Cambria   15,950,566 

Indiana   8,623,663 

Somerset    8,330.274 

Clearfield    8  030.373 

Jeflferson    5,446,247 

Armstrong 3,527,686 

Centre   1.428,031 

Elk    1,310,668 

Tioga    1,141,783 

Clarion    i .092,202 

Butler    1 .035,899 

Mercer    876,252 

Huntingdon   663,615 

Bedford    637,173 

Blair 377-234 

Clinton    302,210 

Beaver 193-023 

Greene    i6r,ooo 

Lawrence   90,490 

Lvconiing   26  768 

Cainernn     18.424 

Total   148.770.858 

18 


HiftiiiiiiKnis    L'nal    rrodiictio)! 

In  1910  the  H.  C.  I'>ick  Coke  Company  alone  produced  16,567,609 
tons  of  coal;  the  Pittsburgh  Coal  Company,  14,500,458  tons;  the  Monon- 
gahela  River  Consolidated  Coal  and  Coke  Company,  7.525,770  tons,  and 
the  Berwind-W'hite  Coal  Mining  Company,  4,356,886  tons. 

Important  as  these  bituminous  coal  fields  of  western  Pennsylvania 
have   been   in   the   past   and    now   are,    the\-   will    assume   an   even   more 


BITUMIXOUS    COAL    MIXIXC.       PICK    IMACHIXE    AT    WORK 


important  position  in  the  future.  The  opening  of  the  Panama  Canal, 
with  all  that  that  implies  to  the  commerce  and  industry  of  the  world,  will 
make  far  broader  markets  for  the  bituminous  coal  of  this  western  Penn- 
sylvania belt.  Improvements  now  in  progress  on  the  Ohio,  and  projected 
or  under  way  on  the  Allegheny  and  Alonongahela  Rivers,  will  open  the 
way  for  economical  transportation  of  coal  to  the  Mississippi,  and  so  to 
the  Gulf  of  ]\Iexico.  These  improvements  will  bring  the  coal  fields  in 
direct  touch  with  the  canal. 

That  this  new  condition  will  mean  a  change  in  the  treatment  of 
the  coal  fields  and  the  introduction  of  sounder  econ(Mnic  methods  of 
operation  is  the  belief  of  careful  students  of  the  bituminous  coal  industry. 
It  is  felt  that  the  crying  need  of  the  coal  trade  to-day  is  proper  regula- 
tion,  but   there   are    so    many   difficulties    in    the   way   of   attaining   this. 


19 


Pciiitsylz'iuiia  and  Its  Manifold  Activities 

owing  to  the  extent  of  the  coal-bearing  area  and  tlie  relatively  small 
cost  of  opening  new  mines,  that  it  has  heretofore  seemed  an  impossibility. 
However,  if  the  opening  of  new  mines  can  be  minimized,  and  a  check 
placed  upon  the  ambition  of  some  of  the  producers  to  make  a  new 
tonnage  record  each  year,  two  causes  that  operate  against  the  success 
of  the  trade  would  be  eliminated.     The  present  productive  capacity  of 


the  mines,  is  far  beyond  the  consumption,  probably  twice  as  great,  and 
hence  the  opening  of  so  great  a  number  of  new  mines  and  excessive  pro- 
duction are  deprecated. 

It  is  a  fact  beyond  dispute  that  there  is  a  tremendous  waste  of 
investment  in  coal-mining  property,  and  that  the  business  will  never  be 
as  profitable  or  safe  as  it  should  be  until  some  way  is  found  to  curtail 
the  production.  The  rapid  growth  of  the  industry  has  prevented  sys- 
tematic development,  and  to-day  the  operators  constitute  a  great  army 
of  antagonistic  elements.  Some  writers  on  the  subject  have  suggested 
that  a  national  organization  of  operators  be  created,  the  primary  object 
of  which  would  be  to  prevent  the  indiscriminate  coal  land  development. 
It  seems  to  be  the  opinion  of  the  advocates  of  this  plan  that  Pennsylvania 
should  take  the  lead  in  the  movement,  for  the  reason  that  western  Penn- 


Bititiiiiiioits   Coal  Production 

sylvania  produces  more  high-grade  coal  than  any  other  region  in  the 
L'nitcd  States,  ami  that,  i)n  account  of  its  manufacturing  interests,  it 
should  safeguard  its  coal  supply.  Unless  this  is  done,  and  the  wasteful 
methods  discontinued,  it  is  feared  by  many  that  ultimately  the  efifect 
may  be  disastrous  to  the  commercial  life  of  western  Pennsylvania. 

Another  unfavorable    feature    of   the   industry   that   engages   public 


COAL    TRAINS,    PENNSYLVANIA    RAILROAD,     SHOWING     OL 

tons'    capacity    and    new    steel    cars    of    ^O    T(i 


OF     25 


attention  and  creates  criticism  is  the  high  record  of  fatalities  that  occur 
among  the  mine-workers.  Those  unacquainted  with  the  facts  cannot 
realize  the  conditions  that  exist  at  the  present  time,  due  chiefly  to  the 
phenomenal  growth  of  the  industry.  With  this  vast  production,  and  in 
view  of  the  rapid  methods  of  extracting  the  coal,  and  the  fact  that  many 
of  the  workmen  are  ignorant  of  the  rules  of  safety,  the  hazard  to  life 
is  extremely  great. 

To  meet  this  peril  to  life,  a  thorough  system  of  first-aid  work  has 
been  instituted,  and  is  being  broadened  each  year.  The  first  organiza- 
tion of  the  kind  in  Pennsylvania,  and  probably  in  the  United  States,  was 
the  corps  organized  at  the  Jermyn  colliery  of  the  Delaware  and  Hudson 
Company,  in  1899,  by  Dr.  M.  J.  Shields,  a  practicing  physician  and 
surgeon  in  the  anthracite  region.  Since  that  time  the  work  has  been 
extended,  until  to-day  at  almost  every  colliery  will  be  found  a  well  organ- 
ized first-aid  corps,  ready  to  render  assistance  to  the  injured. 


Pciiiisyl'i'iiiiid  and  Its   Manifold  .Ictizitics 

l"'irst-ai(l  \\<irk  in  tlic  miiu's  comes  under  iwd  heads:  l'"irst,  the  pnt- 
xidinm'  of  proper  material  for  tirsl-aid  (h'essing.  and  second,  seeing'  to  it 
that  wherever  a  considerable  number  of  men  are  employed  there  shall 
be  some  ])ers<)n  who  is  thoroughly  instructed  in  first  aid. 

.All  the  mines  controlled  by  larger  companies  provide  some  form  of 
first-aid  packet.  When  a  man  is  injured,  either  the  dressing  box  is 
brought  at  once  to  him,  and  his  wounds  are  dressed,  or  he  is  taken  to  the 
surgical  dressing  room,  which  ever)-  mine  has  underground.  At  the 
surgical  dressing  room  more  attention  is  given,  if  necessary,  than  is 
possible  in  the  mine,  and  the  injured  man  is  then  prepared  for  transpor- 
tation to  his  home  or  to  a  hospital.  A  feature  of  this  work  is  the  annual 
prize  contest,  held  by  the  difl^erent  companies,  and  participated  in  by  the 
various  corps. 

Systematic  investigation  is  now  going  forward  to  determine  the  cause 
of,  and  find  a  means  of  ])revention  for,  the  mine  disasters  which  in  1910 
resulted  in  the  loss  of  life  of  484  operatives.  That  the  recent  efi:orts 
along  this  line  have  been  productive  of  excellent  results  is  shown  by 
the  fact  that  the  number  of  lives  lost  inside  the  mines  has  steadily 
decreased  since  1907,  which  was  the  high-water  mark,  and  in  which  year 
the  fatalities  inside  the  mines  numbered  766.  In  1907  one  life  was  lost 
inside  the  mines  for  every  195,247  tons.  In  1908  the  loss  was  one  life 
for  every  208,977  tons.  In  1909  the  loss  was  one  life  for  every  286,749 
tons.  In  1910  a  decided  improvement  was  recorded  in  these  inside 
fatalities,  when  the  figures  showed  a  loss  of  one  life  for  every  307.378 
tons. 


22 


The  Anthracite  Field 

As  l.ATE  as  1812  a  ])resiin'iably  well-informed  State  senator  from 
Orwigsburg  declared  that  while  there  was  plenty  of  "black  stone 
^  uj)  Schnylkill.  it  would  not  burn."  Little  was  it  dreamed,  even 
a  century  ago.  of  the  vast  wealth  of  fuel  that  underlay  the  hills  of  north- 
eastern Pennsylvania.  It  was  not  until  long  after  that  year  that  the 
extent  of  the  anthracite  fields — virtually  the  only  ones  in  the  United 
States — and  their  value  to  the  people  of  the  State  were  fully  realized.  In 
the  year  19 10  there  was  mined  from  the  hills  of  this  region  a  total  of 
74,717,852  tons. 

The  history  and  development  of  anthracite  coal  in  Pennsylvania 
reads  like  a  romance.  Early  books  on  the  coal-mining  industry  of  Penn- 
sylvania contain  a  picture  that  is  supposed  to  represent  the  discovery  of 
anthracite  coal — a  woodsman  in  coonskin  cap,  ritle  in  hand,  halting  in 
awestruck  wonder  before  a  little  heap  of  "black  diamonds."  But  if  the 
hunter  ever  existed  he  doubtless  thought  of  that  coal  as  being  "lilack 
rock  that  wouldn't  burn." 

The  anthracite  industry  was  a  matter  of  slow  development.  Repeated 
attempts  were  made  with  little  success  to  burn  "stone  coal,"  even  under 
steam  boilers  and  in  furnaces  built  to  burn  bituminous  coal,  before  its 
value  as  a  fuel  became  known.  As  late  as  1825  the  Lehigh  Coal  and 
Navigation  Company  found  it  advisable  to  issue  a  pamphlet  in  which 
certificates  were  given  regarding  anthracite  "from  various  manufacturers 
and  others  proving  its  decided  superiority  over  every  other  kind  of  fuel." 
One  of  these  testimonials,  signed  by  a  well-known  Philadel])hian  of  that 
day.  states  that  he  had  "used  Lehigh  coal  in  my  studw  and  found  so 
many  advantages  of  it  that  I  would  not  exchange  it  for  hickory  wood, 
even  if  I  could  procure  the  latter  gratis."  With  wood,  he  said,  his  feet 
were  almost  always  cold  at  night,  and  "since  I  have  used  this  coal  those 
grievances  are  entirely  removed.""  Further,  he  wrote.  "1  have  no  need 
of  chimney  sweeps." 

It  is  believed  that  anthracite  coal  was  discovered  in  the  Wyoming 
\'allev  as  early  as  1762.  and  the  first  practical  use  is  believed  to  have 
been  made  of  it  in   1768  by  two  Connecticut  blacksmiths,  named  Gore, 

23 


Pennsylvania  and  Its  Manifold  Actizities 


24 


The  Anthracite  Field 

who  liad  settled  in  the  valley.  There  has  been,  however,  some  doubt  as 
to  priority  of  discovery  and  development  in  the  several  anthracite  regions. 
The  discovery  of  anthracite  in  the  Lehigh  region  is  generally  con- 
ceded to  have  been  made  by  Philip  Ginter  in  1791,  at  Mauch  Chunk.  It 
is  said  that  Ginter  had  heard  of  "stone-coal  over  in  Wyoming,"  and  had 
frequently  pried  into  the  rocks  in  the  hope  of  finding  it.     Coming  across 


ANTHRACITE   COLLIERY    AND   BREAKER,    MAHANOY    CITY,    PA. 

a  tree  that  had  been  blown  down,  he  discovered  "black  dirt  and  a  great 
many  pieces  of  stone-coal  under  the  roots."  It  is  said  that  he  took  these 
to  Col.  Jacob  Weiss,  at  Fort  Allen,  who  had  them  examined  in  Phila- 
delphia, when  they  were  pronounced  to  be  coal.  In  the  year  following, 
Col.  Weiss,  Charles  Cist,  and  Michael  Hillegas  purchased  6000  acres  of 
land  in  this  district. 

In  the  following  year  a  company  was  formed  under  the  title  of  the 
Lehigh  Coal  Mine  Company,  which  purchased  from  Jacob  Weiss  the 
tract  of  land  on  which  the  large  opening  at  Summit  Hill  was  made,  and 
afterward  "took  up,"  under  warrants  from  the  Commonwealth,  about  ten 
thousand  acres  of  land,  embracing  about  five-sixths  of  the  coal  lands  now 
owned  by  the  Lehigh  Coal   and   Navigation  Company.     The  coal  mine 


25 


Pciiiisyl'-rdiiia  and  Its  Manifold  .  Ictivitics 

ccmipany  proceeded  to  o])en  mines,  and  made  an  ajipropriation  of  ten 
pounds  to  constnici  a  road  from  the  mines  to  the  landings,  a  distance  of 
nine  miles.  After  many  fruitless  attempts  to  get  coal  to  market  over 
this  rough  road,  and  hy  the  Lehigh  River,  which,  in  seasons  of  low  water, 
in  its  iuiim])ro\e(l  state,  defied  the  floating  of  a  canoe  over  its  rocky 
hed,  and  after  calling  for  contributions  of  money  from  the  stockholders 
until  calling  was  useless,  the  Lehigh  Coal  Mine  Company  became  tired 
of  the  experiment,  and  suiTered  their  property  to  lie  idle  for  some  years. 

Early  works  on  anthracite  state  that  there  is  a  tradition  that  coal 
was  discovered  in  the  Schuylkill  region  about  1790;  but  there  is  no 
authentic  mention  of  the  use  of  coal  in  the  region  until  1795,  when  a 
blacksmith  named  Whetstone  used  it  in  his  smithy.  His  success  induced 
several  others  to  dig  for  coal,  but  after  trying  to  burn  it  they  gave  up 
the  effort  in  disgust.  It  is  probable  that  the  early  failures  to  obtain  good 
results  with  anthracite  coal  as  a  fuel  were  largely  owing  to  ignorance 
of  the  difference  between  coal  and  slate.  About  the  year  1800  a  William 
Morris,  owner  of  a  tract  near  Port  Carbon,  took  a  wagon  load  of  coal  to 
Philadelphia,  but  his  lack  of  success  in  finding  a  market  was  as  great  as 
that  of  the  Lehigh  pioneers.  He  therefore  retired  from  the  business.  The 
coal  trade  of  the  Schuylkill  region  may  be  dated  back  to  1806.  However, 
as  late  as  1812  an  effort  to  interest  Philadelphia  as  a  market  proved 
discouraging,  and  the  operator  who  took  to  market  nine  wagon  loads  was 
denounced  as  a  knave  for  his  attempt  to  imi)ose  "rocks"  on  the  public 
for  coal.  He  did,  however,  finally  manage  to  sell  his  coal,  some  of  it 
to  White  &  Hazard,  who  were  then  manufacturing  wire  at  the  Falls  of 
the  Schuylkill.     This  proved  to  be  a  history-making  sale. 

In  the  winter  of  1812-13  Mr.  White,  believing  that  there  were 
valuable  coal  deposits  up  the  Schuylkill,  petitioned  the  Legislature  for 
authority  to  improve  the  Schuylkill  River  by  slack-water  navigation,  and 
from  this  year  may  be  dated  his  interest  in  coal  lands,  which  did  so  much 
for  the  development  in  its  early  stages.  The  high  rate  of  freight  on  the 
Schuylkill  subsequently  discouraged  Mr.  White,  and  led  to  the  abandon- 
ment of  his  purpose  to  use  the  Schuylkill  navigation,  and  he  subsequently 
turned  his  attention  to  the  Lehigh  district. 

In  DecemlxM-,  1813,  the  Lehigh  company  made  a  lease  for  ten  years 
of  their  lands  to  Messrs.  Miner,  Cist  &  Robinson,  with  the  right  of 
cutting  lumber  on  the  lands  for  building  boats.  The  whole  ctMisideration 
for  this  lease  was  to  be  the  annual  introduction  into  market  of  10,000 
bushels  of  coal   for  the  benefit  of  the  lessees,     b^ive  "ark"  loads  of  coal 

26 


The  .liithracitc   T'lcld 

were  (lis])atclie(l  l)y  tliese  gentlemen  from  tlie  landing  at  Maueh  Clumk, 
two  of  whieh  reached  I'hiladelphia,  the  others  having  been  wrecked  on 
their  passage.  Voiw  dollars  per  ton  were  paid  to  a  contractor  for  the 
hauling  of  this  coal  from  the  mines  to  the  landing  over  the  nine-mile 
stri])  of  road,  and  the  coiuract(  r  lost  mone}'.  The  ])rinci])al  part  of  the 
coal    which   arrived   at    I 'hiladeli)liia   was   ])nrchased   at   $21    i)er   ton,    by 


\\  hite  &  Hazard.  But  even  this  price  did  not  remunerate  the  owners 
for  their  losses  and  expenses  in  getting  the  coal  to  market,  and  they  were 
consequently  compelled  to  abandon  the  prosecution  of  the  business,  and, 
of  course,  did  not  comply  with  the  terms  of  the  lease. 

In  1820  the  navigation  of  the  Lehigh  was  so  far  improved  that  "arks" 
— rough  timber  boats — were  floated  to  Philadelphia,  carrying  365  tons  of 
coal,  which  sold  at  $8.20  per  ton.  From  this  time  onward  Lehigh  trade 
steadily  advanced.  Two  years  later,  in  1822,  1480  tons  of  Schuylkill  coal 
passed  down  the  Schuylkill  navigation,  but  it  was  not  until  three  years  later 
that  the  waterway  was  in  such  condition  as  to  make  real  development 
possible.  In  the  meantime  the  Lehigh  product,  mainly  through  the  efforts 
of  White  &  Hazard,  was  becoming  well   intrenched   in  the  market.      In 


27 


Peiuis\'l7'aiiia  a>id  Its  Manifold  .Ictii'ities 

both  districts  the  beginning  of  the  era  of  real  development  may  be  traced 
back  to   1825. 

The  anthracite  district  of  to-day  occupies  an  area  of  480  square 
miles.  It  may  be  roughly  outlined  by  a  line  drawn  from  the  southeastern 
point  of  Susquehanna  County,  through  Luzerne  and  Lackawanna  Coun- 
ties, to  the  limit  of  the  Wyoming  basin  at  Shickshinny,  thence  south 
through  Columbia  County  to  Centralia,  thence  west  and  south  arouud 
the  ofT-shoots  of  the  Schuylkill  and  Pottsville  basins,  passing  through 
Northumberland,  Dauphin,  and  Lebanon,  thence  northeast  through  Car- 
bon and  Schuylkill  to  Mauch  Chunk,  and  north  to  the  point  of  beginning. 
These  lines  enclose  an  area  of  1700  square  miles,  only  about  one-quarter 
of  which,  however,  actually  contains  anthracite  coal.  The  highest  eleva- 
tion of  this  district  is  1750  feet  above  sea  level,  near  Hazleton. 

The  production  of  anthracite  in  this  district  in  1910  was  74,717,8^52 
tons.  The  following  table  shows  the  production  by  districts,  as  officially 
numbered  by  the  State : 


Average 
Number  of 


.    ,  Average 

R>smct                                                            (.ounty                                       Days  Worked           lion""  Production 

in  Breaker  ^"  "^■ 

First Lackawanna,  Susquehanna,  Wayne  186  3,633,389  17,911 

Second Lackawanna    204  4,542,844  21,586 

Third Lackawanna   198  4,469,969  20,771 

Fourth   Lackawanna    198  3,963,568  16,853 

Fifth    Lackawanna,  Luzerne,  Sullivan  ...  195  4,045,862  18,848 

Sixth   Luzerne    206  4,632,681  21,140 

Seventh Luzerne   166  5  207,392  27,347 

Eighth  .  .  ." Luzerne,    Lackawanna    187  3,749,647  19,382 

Ninth    Luzerne    213  5,621,081  23,598 

Tenth Luzerne    223  4,101,524  18,392 

Eleventh   Carbon,  Luzerne 226  4,906,012  20,921 

Twelfth    Schuylkill    230  2,900,088  12,609 

Thirteenth  . .  .  .Schuylkill    224  2,936,654  1 1,793 

Fourteenth  ..  .Columbia,  Schuylkill   195  2,113.188  10,837 

Fifteenth Northumberland    221  3,038,205  13.748 

Sixteenth    Northumberland    231  2,608,507  10,858 

Seventeenth  ..Carbon,  Schuylkill    259  4,339,964  15.552 

Eighteenth   .  .  .Schuylkill    229  2,693,900  1 1,764 

Nineteenth   . .  .Schuylkill    246  2,930,754  1 1,495 

Twentieth    ....Dauphin,    Schuylkill    207  2,282,623  9,178 


Total    212      74,717,852      334.583 

Various  estimates  have  been  made  as  to  the  length  of  time  that  will 
be  required  to  exhaust  the  supply  of  anthracite  at  the  present  rate  of 
consumption.  It  is  probable  that  unless  the  amount  taken  out  annually  is 
largely  increased  there  will  be  anthracite  in  Pennsylvania  at  least  a  century 
hence. 

28 


The  Anthracite  Field 

But  the  fact  that  the  anthracite  is  not  inexhaustible  has  already  turned 
the  attention  of  astute  managers  of  these  properties  to  the  question  of 
conservation  of  the  supply.  And  in  a  consideration  of  this  problem  the 
first  thought  would  naturally  be  that  of  ultilization  of  the  great  culm  banks 
that  have  accumulated  through  the  years  of  mining  operations,  and  that 
in  former  years  were  regarded  as  being  merely  the  waste  of  the  mines. 


ANTHRACITE   COAL    MINERS    AT    W  ( 


But  while  this  culm  is  not  marketable,  in  that  it  is  not  of  any  of  the 
regular  market  sizes,  either  steaming  or  domestic,  it  contains  almost 
inestimable  latent  power.  How  best  to  market  this  power  and  thus  to 
relieve  the  drain  upon  the  supply  still  underground  has  been  a  problem 
of  interest  not  only  to  the  coal  managers,  but  to  the  people  of  the  Com- 
monwealth, as  it  has  an  important  bearing  on  the  future  public  welfare. 

In  pursuance  of  a  policy  directed  toward  the  utilization  of  the  culm 
banks,  the  Lehigh  Coal  and  Navigation  Company  is  building  at  Hauto  a 
power  plant  which  will  rank  among  the  largest  in  the  country.  Instead 
of  attempting  to  market  the  culm  in  material  form,  the  company  will 
generate  electricity  and  ship  it  by  copper  wire  to  large  consuming  points 
within  a  radius  of   150  miles  of  the  mines. 


29 


Pcnnsyli'ania  ami  Its  Manifold  Activities 

Tlie  niakiny  of  bri(nictles  from  culm  has  also  receivecl  attention.  So 
long  as  good  coal  is  plentiful  there  is  not  the  same  incenti\e  for  the  devel- 
ojMiient  of  briquetting  enterprise  as  there  would  he  if  the  underground 
supply  were  in  immediate  danger  of  exhaustion.  Yet  the  making  and  sell- 
ing of  briquettes  is  to-day  carried  on  successfully  by  several  companies  in 
different  parts  of  the  State.  Anthracite  culm  is,  however,  but  one  of 
several  low-grade  fuels  that  are  available  for  briquetting  in  Pennsylvania. 
Among  others  arc  slack  coal  from  scmi-anthracitc,  Intuminous,  and  sul^- 
bituminous  coal  mines,  which  does  not  possess  fusing  or  coking  qualities, 
and  is  therefore  not  available  for  the  manufacture  of  coke,  and  coke  breeze, 
which  possesses  high  fuel  efificiency,  but  which,  because  of  its  small  size, 
cannot  be  used  as  fuel  either  for  domestic  or  other  use. 

Among  important  recent  developments  in  the  anthracite  region  are  the 
establishment  of  schools  by  various  mining  companies  for  the  improve- 
ment of  miners ;  the  introduction  of  the  use  of  electricity  in  the  mines, 
both  as  a  source  of  power  and  for  lighting;  the  broadening  of  first  aid 
work  for  injured  miners,  and  the  systematic  effort  to  prevent  mine  fires. 


30 


Iron  and  Other  Mine  Wealth 

SINCE  the  opening  of  the  great  Lake  Superior  iron  ranges  there 
has  been  a  decHne  in  the  iron-ore  production  of  Pennsylvania. 
Prior  to  1880  tliis  was  the  leader  among  the  States  in  the  mining 
of  iron  ore,  and  in  that  year  it  produced  1,951,496  tons.  This  was  an 
increase  of  more  than  a  million  tons  over  the  last  year  of  the  preceding 
decade.  But  before  the  close  of  the  eighties  the  State  had  fallen  to 
third  place  in  the  production  of  iron  ore,  and  five  years  later  it  was  in 
fifth  place. 

\  ery  soon  after  the  settlement  of  Pennsylvania,  small  furnaces  and 
forges  were  established.  There  was  an  abundance  of  iron  ore,  while 
the  forests  supplied  the  charcoal  needed  for  fuel.  Thomas  Rutter,  a 
smith,  living  near  Germantown,  established  the  first  ironworks  in 
Pennsylvania. 

In  1714  he  removed  from  Germantown  to  Pottstown,  in  order  to 
work  the  iron  nfines  of  the  ^^lanatawny  Creek.  Here  he  was  given  a 
grant  of  300  acres  of  land.  In  these  works  the  iron  was  made  directly 
from  the  ore.  The  early  pioneers  of  the  iron  industry  had  even  the 
dangers  of  Indian  attack  to  encounter,  for  it  is  recorded  that,  in  1728,  a 
forge  near  the  Rutter  Works  was  attacked  by  Shawnese  Indians,  who 
were  finally  driven  away. 

The  second  forge  was  established  in  Chester  County,  as  early  as 
1720,  b}-  Samuel  Xutt.  There  is  an  opinion  that  iron  was  probably  made 
at  this  forge,  which  was  known  as  the  Coventry  Forge,  in  1718. 

James  M.  Swank,  the  leading  authority  on  the  iron  and  steel  indus- 
try in  Pennsylvania,  gives  as  the  next  iron  enterprise  in  the  State,  the 
Colebrookdale  Furnace,  built  about  1720,  by  a  company  of  which  Thomas 
Rutter  was  the  leader.  This  furnace  was  on  Ironstone  Creek,  Berks 
Countv,  eight  miles  from  I'ottstown. 

The  first  mention  of  export  pig  iron  gives  the  date  of  the  first  ship- 
ment as  November,  1728.  In  this  year  and  the  next  274  tons  were 
shipped.  From  this  period  on  the  number  of  furnaces  and  forges  in  the 
eastern  part  of  the  State  multiplied  ra])idly.     In  the  early  forges  iron  was 

31 


Pcitiisyli'iiiiia  and  Its  Manifold  .Irtii'ities 

made  directly  from  tlic  ore,  but  after  furnaces  were  Iniilt.  i)ig  iron  was 
generally  used  at  the  forges. 

In  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  l^ennsylvania  was  ranked  as 
first  among  the  colonies  in  this  industry.  By  the  year  1791  the  develop- 
ment had  increased  until  there  were  16  furnaces  and  37  forges,  many 
of  these  in  the  Schuylkill  X'allev.     But  even  before  the  Revolution  there 


EARLY    SHIPMENT   OF   PETROLEUM    IN    THE   PENNSYLVANIA    OIL    FIELDS.       FLOATED 

DOWN    THE    SMALLER    STREAMS    ON    FLAT-BOATS    AND    TRANSFERRED    TO 

STERN-WHEEL    STEAMERS    AT    OIL   CITY,    PA.,    FOR    DELIVERY    TO 

PITTSBURGH     AND    OHIO    RIVER    POINTS.       THE    OIL     IS 

NOW        PUMPED        THROUGH        UNDERGROUND 

PIPE-LINES     TO     TIDEWATER 

were    flourishing    iron    enterprises    in    the    territory    lying    west    of    the 
Susquehanna. 

Pennsylvania  iron  bore  an  important  part  in  the  Revolution.  Round 
iron  was  drawn  under  the  hammer  at  Martic  Forge,  Lancaster  County, 
and  bored  out  for  musket  barrels.  This  was  done  at  a  boring  mill 
located  on  a  very  secluded  stream,  in  order  to  avoid  discovery  by  the 
British.  An  armory  was  in  operation  at  Carlisle,  where  wrought-iron 
cannon  were  made. 


32 


//-()/;   and   Other   Mine   Wealth 

The  industry  slowly  moved  westward.  As  early  as  1832  there 
were  8  furnaces,  10  forges,  i  rolling  mill,  and  i  slitting  luill  in  Huntingdon 
County,  and  16  furnaces  and  forges  in  Centre  County.  In  Centre, 
1  luntingdon,  Blair,  and  Mitflin  Counties,  in  1850,  there  w^ere  48  furnaces, 
42  forges,  and  8  rolling  mills.  In  the  early  days  of  the  iron  industry  in 
the  valley  of  the  Juniata  the  output  was  largely  conveyed  by  horses  to  the 


PEXXSVLVAXIA    OIL    FIELDS.       GROUP    OF    OIL    WELLS     NEAR    TITCSVILLE,    PA. 

Clarion  River,  whence  it  was  tioated  to  Pittsburgh  in  rough  boats.  The 
completion  of  the  Pennsylvania  Canal,  in  1832,  and  of  the  Portage  Rail- 
road, in  1834,  was  a  vast  stimulus  to  the  early  enterprise.  The  industry 
west  of  the  Alleghenies,  now  the  leading  steel  producing  district  in  the 
world,  dates  back  to  1790,  when  TurnbuU  &  Marmie,  of  Philadelphia, 
built  a  furnace  on  Jacob's  Creek,  near  its  confluence  with  the  Youghio- 
gheny.  The  military  storekeeper  at  Fort  Pitt  wrote  to  General  Knox, 
in  1792:  "As  there  is  no  6-pound  shot  here,  I  have  taken  the  liberty  to 
engage  400  at  Turnbull  &  Marmie's  furnace,  which  is  now  in  blast." 
What  was  probably  the  first  rolling  and  slitting  mill  west  of  the  Alle- 
ghenies was  built  in  Fayette  County  by  Jeremiah  Pears,  in  1804.  Fayette 
County  had,  in  1805.  5  furnaces  and  6  forges,  and  in  181  r.  10  furnaces,  an 


23 


Pcinisylz'aitia  and  Its  Manifold  Actizitics 

air  furnace.  S  forges,  3  rolling  and  slitting  mills,  i  steel  furnace,  and  5 
lri|)-haniiiK'rs.  In  1816  there  was  erected  on  the  site  of  Jeremiah  Pears' 
early  forge  the  first  rolling  mill  in  the  United  States  to  puddle  iron  and  roll 
iron  bars.  Westmoreland  County,  Somerset  County,  and  the  other  coun- 
ties of  the  western  district  followed  Fayette  closely  in  the  development 
of  the  enterprise. 


A    FIELD   OF   LANCASTER   COUNTY    TOBACCO 


Prior  to  1840  no  fuel  other  than  charcoal  was  used  successfully 
in  the  American  iron  industry.  To-day  the  charcoal  furnaces  are  vir- 
tually wiped  out.  The  iron  industry  in  Pennsylvania  steadily  expanded 
down  to  the  fourth  quarter  of  the  last  century,  when  the  opening  of  the 
Superior  ranges  began.  However,  in  the  production  of  magnetite  ore 
the  Lebanon  mines  still  lead  the  country.  To-day,  in  addition  to  the  ore 
brought  into  the  State  from  the  West,  large  quantities  are  imported  from 
Sweden,  Cuba,  and  other  countries.  It  is  owing  to  this  foreign  source  of 
iron  supply  that  the  steel  industries  of  extreme  eastern  Pennsylvania  have 
flourished  in  the  last  few  years,  in  competition  with  the  interior  interests, 
which  draw  from  the  western  supply. 

The  existence  of  petroleum  in  Pennsylvania  was  known  as  early  as 


34 


/;-('//    (///(/    Other    Mine    Wealth 

1721.  However,  it  was  not  until  1859  that  the  vahie  of  the  product 
commercially  was  understood.  In  that  year  an  oil  well  was  bored  by 
Edwin  L.  Drake,  at  Titusville,  from  which  was  pumped  25  barrels  a  day. 
From  that  time  the  industry  advanced  with  rapid  bounds.  By  the  close  of 
1861  wells  had  been  drilled  from  which  as  high  as  3000  barrels  a  day 
flowed   without   pumping.     The   output   of   the   State   increased    steadily 


CL'TTIXG    TIMBER    FOR    CHEMU 


until  1 89 1,  in  which  year  it  amounted  to  31.424,206  barrels.  In  that 
year  the  w^ells  began  to  go  dry,  and  by  the  year  1908  the  production  had 
dropped  to  9,424,325  barrels. 

As  petroleum  was  accidentally  discovered  in  a  salt  well,  so  natural 
gas  also  was  discovered  in  Pennsylvania  by  chance  in  the  early  operations 
in  the  oil  fields.  In  drilling  for  some  of  the  first  wells,  gas  escaped.  It 
was  at  first  allowed  to  discharge  into  the  air,  but  it  was  soon  used  as 
fuel  in  generating  steam  for  oil-drilling.  Here  and  there  w^ells  were 
drilled  for  oil.  but  produced  only  gas,  and  it  began  to  be  realized  that 
here  was  an  important  natural  source  of  wealth.  In  1868  experiments 
were  made  to  determine  whether  gas  could  be  successfully  used  as  a 
manufacturing  fuel.     Four  vears  later  natural  gas  was  piped  near  Titus- 


35 


Pcinisyhviiia  ami  Its  Ma)i{fold  Activities 


36 


Iron   and   Other  Mine   JJ'calth 

ville  for  use  both  as  fuel  and  light.  Between  the  years  1882  and  1888, 
the  natural  gas  output  increased  from  $75,000  to  $19,282,000.  In  this 
latter  year  the  output  in  Pennsylvania  was  more  than  80  per  cent,  of  that 
of  the  entire  country,  the  gas  region  covering  an  area  of  nearly  15,000 
square  miles.  It  embraced  virtually  all  of  the  Allegheny  plateau.  Follow- 
ing the  year  1888  natural  gas  developments  went  forward  in  other  sections 
of  the  country,  but  Pennsylvania  production  still  remained  in  first  place. 

Salt  was  one  of  the  important  products  of  the  earlier  period  of  Penn- 
sylvania history,  having  been  discovered  on  the  Conemaugh  in  181 2. 
There  were  important  salt  industries  down  to  i860,  but  in  1889  there  was 
but  one  plant  left  in  the  State,  and  the  industry  is  now  virtually  extinct. 

There  is  a  small  production  of  zinc  near  Bethlehem,  lead  and  copper 
have  been  smelted  in  small  quantities,  and  a  nickel  mine  has  been  profitably 
worked  in  Lancaster  County. 

Lumbering  and  Agriculture 

Lumbering  is  to-day  and  will  continue  to  be  an  important  industry  in 
Penns}lvania.  In  place  of  the  wasteful  methods  that  characterized  the 
operations  of  former  years,  in  this  as  in  other  States,  there  has  come  an 
economic  treatment  of  forest  wealth,  not  onlv  to  obtain  the  most  from 
the  timber  that  is  cut,  but  also  to  conserve  the  forests  for  the  future. 
Formerly  the  trees  were  not  cut  close  to  the  ground,  but  instead  five 
or  six  feet  above  the  ground.  In  the  mill,  thick  saws  were  used,  with 
the  result  that  an  important  percentage  of  the  log  went  to  sawdust. 
To-day  the  trees  are  felled  to  the  ground  as  close  as  possible,  and  every 
part  that  can  be  used  is  utilized.  Branches  and  butts  of  the  soft  woods 
and  also  the  small  trees  are  made  into  soft  wood  pulp.  When  the  logs 
reach  the  mills  the  same  sort  of  economy  is  practiced.  All  the  offal  is 
utilized  by  making  it  into  lath,  ])ickets,  and  kindling  wood.  Thin  saws 
are  used,  with  the  result  that  the  percentage  of  sawdust  is  reduced,  and 
even  the  sawdust  is  used  as  fuel. 

The  statement  of  timber  cut  in  1909  gives  an  idea  of  the  extent  of 
the  lumbering  interests.  The  number  of  acres  cut  over  was  105,736;  the 
number  of  feet  of  white  pine  cut,  board  measure,  was  51,678,063;  hem- 
lock, 415,829,709;  other  woods,  320,270,726.  The  number  of  cords  of 
bark  peeled  was  250,869;  the  number  of  cords  used  as  pulp  wood,  169,724; 
the  number  of  cords  used  in  the  manufacture  of  alcohol  or  acid,  135,008; 
the  number  of  cords  of  cord  wood  cut,  385,139;  the  number  of  feet  cut 

37 


Pejuisylzxiiiia  and  Its  Manifold  .Ictnitics 

for  mine  i)r(tps,  51.075,135;  the  number  of  feet  cut  for  railroad  ties, 
13,515,543;  the  number  of  feet  for  telegrapli  poles,  485,450.  Large  as 
these  figures  seem,  they  show  a  very  important  falling  off  in  the  lumbering 
industry.  In  1900  the  number  of  feet  of  hemlock  cut  was  1,037,805,000. 
This  figure  contrasted  with  the  first  figures  given  affords  an  idea  of  the 
contraction  of  the  lumbering  industry  in  Pennsylvania. 

In  agriculture  the  State  has  long  held  a  leading  position  by  reason 
of  its  diversity  of  production.  Lancaster  County's  place  in  the  tol)acco- 
producing  districts  of  the  country  is  well  known,  but  few  even  of  Penn- 
sylvanians  realize  that  in  annual  value  of  agricultural  production  Lan- 
caster County  has  led  all  the  counties  in  the  United  States.  In  recent  years 
steadily  increasing  attention  has  been  paid  to  the  subject  of  diversified 
farming  and  crop  rotation.  It  is  probable  that  in  no  other  State  has  this 
science  been  carried  so  far. 

Many  parts  of  the  State  have  soils  that  are  peculiarly  suited  to  the 
production  of  particular  crops,  and  the  agricultural  interests  of  Pennsyl- 
vania as  a  whole  wall  continue  to  rank  high  among  those  of  the  States 
generally.  Among  cereal  crops  adapted  to  the  soil  and  climate  are  corn, 
wheat,  and  oats,  in  the  order  named. 


38 


Conservation  of  Forest  Wealth 

RVPIDL.Y  aclvancing  toward  the  time  when  1,000,000  acres  of 
stripped  land  will  be  set  aside  for  forest  growth  within  its 
borders,  Pennsylvania  is  to-day  unquestionably  in  the  lead 
among  the  States  in  the  aggressiveness  and  effectiveness  of  its  refores- 
tation work.  Already,  tracts  to  be  covered  with  new-made  growths  that 
will  be  the  forests  of  the  future,  aggregate  more  than  900,000  acres,  while 
additions  are  rapidly  being  made.  What  with  this  work  by  the  State, 
and  the  reforestation  conducted  by  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad ;  what  with 
the  supi:)ort  given  liy  the  people  of  the  State ;  what  with  the  enabling 
laws — contrasting  sharply  with  the  restrictive  enactments  of  nearby 
States — Pennsylvania  will  retain  that  sylvan  character  which  caused  its 
beautiful  forests  to  be  first  thought  of  when  its  name  was  coined. 

The  great  founder  knew  naught  of  the  extent  of  its  wealth  of  ore 
and  coal,  of  the  hidden  streams  of  oil,  of  the  potency  in  so  many  directions, 
that  were  to  make  the  Pennsylvania  of  the  future.  The  forests  were  the 
visible  natural  wealth.  At  the  time  the  colonists  settled  in  Pennsylvania 
the  State  was  one  of  the  best  wooded  areas  on  the  Atlantic  seaboard, 
and  from  the  time  of  Penn  the  attitude  of  the  Government  toward  these 
forests  has  been  that  of  care  and  protection.  Penn  himself  incorporated 
in  the  Charter  of  Rights  the  proposition  that  for  every  five  acres  cleared 
one  acre  should  be  left  in  trees.  As  early  as  1700,  laws  were  passed 
by  the  Proprietary  Government  relative  to  the  firing  of  woods,  and  from 
that  time  to  this  the  question  of 'the  prevention  of  forest  fires  has  been 
given  careful  consideration. 

Many  years  before  the  First  Conservation  Congress,  held  at  the 
National  Capital,  when  the  attention  of  the  States  generally  was  focused, 
through  their  governors,  on  the  conservation  of  forests,  Pennsylvania  had 
made  notable  advance  in  this  line  of  work.  The  first  activities  in  the 
State  which  led  to  the  advancement  of  forestry  ideas  were  the  lectures 
given  by  Dr.  J.  T.  Rothrock,  beginning  with  1870,  after  he  had  been 
designated  as  Michaux  Lecturer  on  Forestry,  under  the  legacy  left  by 
Andre  Alichaux  to  the  American  Philosophical  Society  in  Philadelphia. 

In    1873,   and   the   following  years.   Governor   Hartranft  called   the 

39 


[^ciiiisylz'uiiiit  and  Its  Manifold  .Ictiiifics 

attention  of  the  Legislature  to  the  immediate  needs  of  the  State  as  regards 
the  care  and  protection  of  forests,  and  in  1877  ^  State  Board  of  Agri- 
culture was  organized,  which,  at  its  first  meeting,  devoted  most  of  its 
time  to  forestry  questions.  From  that  time  the  development  of  forestry 
has  been  very  rapid,  although  at  the  same  time  the  destruction  of  the 
forests  has  gone  on  at  an  amazing  ])ace. 


THE    FOREST    RESERVES    OF    PEXXSVLVAXIA 

As  early  as  1901,  Doctor  Rothrock  said,  relative  to  public  sentiment  on 
this  subject:  "If  I  can  read  correctly  the  temper  of  the  public  mind,  it  is 
largely  in  favor  of  the  State  taking  back  under  its  own  management  a 
very  considerable  portion  of  the  mountain  land  which  had  been  alienated 
by  sale  to  corporations  or  individuals.  It  had  become  apparent  to  all 
thinking  persons  that  there  were  certain  natural  laws  which  must  be 
observed  if  the  prosperity  of  the  State  was  to  be  maintained,  and  that 
this  could  only  be  done  by  the  State  recovering  possession  of  the  stream 
heads  of  the  State. 

"There  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  this  view  will  ever  be  changed. 
It  appears  to  be  a  part  of  the  accepted  order  of  things  which  has  come 
to  stay." 

In  iS'<j5  it  was  decided  that  satisfactory  results  could  not  be  obtained 
along  forestry  lines  by  private  individuals,  and  that  it  was  necessary  for 
the  State  to  take  more  active  steps  in  its  own  behalf.  Consequently,  a 
Commissioner   of   Forestry   was   appointed   as   chief   of   the   Division   of 


40 


i'oiiscn-atioii   of  I'orcst  IJ'caltli 

Forestry  in  the  Department  of  Agricnlture.  In  lyoi  tliis  division  was 
made  a  separate  department.  At  the  close  of  the  year  1904,  which 
still  antedated  the  adoption  of  reforestation  by  many  of  the  States  on  the 
present  wide  basis  of  policy,  Pennsylvania  owned  forest  reserves  in  23 
counties,  amounting  to  549,565  acres.  In  the  following  two  years  this  was 
increased  to  a  total  area  of  701,297  acres. 


VIRGIN     HEMLOCK     FOREST.    STATE    FOREST    RESERVE,     SNYDER    COUNTY 

To-day  the  department  has  control  of  972,000  acres  of  State  forest 
reserves,  land  which  has  been  purchased  outright  by  the  State  since 
1900,  at  an  average  cost  of  $2.25  an  acre.  In  charge  of  this  reserve  land 
there  are  now  46  foresters.  The  present  Commissioner  of  Forestry, 
Robert  S.  Conklin,  is  chief  of  a  system  of  fire  wardens  which  covers  the 
State.  The  department  conducts  a  school  for  the  training  of  young  men 
to  care  for  the  State  lands,  giving  a  three  years'  course  in  forestry  and 
allied  sciences.  It  has  also  established  three  large  nurseries  for  the 
raising  of  forest  tree  seedlings,  which  aggregate  in  area  about  thirty-seven 
acres.  In  addition,  there  are  a  nimiber  of  small  nurseries  on  the  various 
State  reserves. 

Up  to  January  i,  1912,  approximately  4,000,000  seedlings  had  been 


41 


Pcmisylvaiiia  and  Its  Manifold  .-Icth'itics 

planted  on  the  state  reserves,  covering  about  two  tliousand  acres  of  what 
had  been  cleared  (jr  denuded  lands.  Two  million  seedlings  were  planted 
in  191 1  alone.  The  foresters  and  rangers  in  charge  of  the  reserves  have 
reopened  and  improved  3341  miles  of  roads,  which  serve  both  for  trans- 
portation purposes  and  fire  lanes  in  connection  wdth  protection  from  forest 
fires.     The  tracts  are  in  the  following  counties:  Adams,   Bedford,  Cam- 


.•\    VIEW    IX    THE    STATE    FOREST    KESERVE,    SHOWING    TAKING    OF    TIMBER 

eron,  Centre,  Clearfield,  Clinton,  Cumberland,  Dauphin,  Elk.  Franklin, 
Fulton,  Huntingdon,  Juniata,  Lackawanna,  Lycoming,  Aliftlin,  Monroe, 
Ferry,  Pike,  Potter,  Snyder,  Somerset,  Tioga,  Union,  Westmoreland,  and 
Wyoming.  The  laws  of  the  State  permit  the  practicing  of  forestry  in  all 
its  phases  upon  the  State  land,  and,  from  the  sale  of  dead  and  defective 
timber,  and  revenues  from  minerals,  the  total  revenue  from  State  reserves, 
on  January  i,  191 2,  amounted  to  over  $50,000. 

The  Department  of  Forestry  is  in  position  to  be  of  valuable  assistance 
to  individuals  in  the  matter  of  planting  trees  and  handling  woodlots.  It 
is  able  to  supply  at  cost  a  number  of  forest  tree  seedlings,  and  at  this  time 
has  already  supplied  161,000.  It  renders  assistance  and  advice  in  the 
matter  of  planting  and  of  im])roving  woodlots.     Inspection  is  made  of  the 


42 


Coiiscri'atioii   of  Forest   Wealth 

property,  and  advice  given  only  after  the  conditions  in  connection  with  the 
tract  have  been  carefully  examined  on  the  ground.  This  assistance  to 
individuals  is  rendered  free  of  charge.  The  State  now  has  an  act  which 
l)rotects  shade  trees  generally,  and  provides  for  shade  tree  commissions. 
There  is  also  an  act  providing  for  the  establishment  of  municipal  forests 
by  cities  of  the  State;  also  several  minor  acts  which  provide  satisfactory 
protection  to  trees,  as,  for  exam])le,  along  roads. 


TIMliER     l.AXllS     STKiri'Kli     FDR     THE     CHEMICAL     IXDL'STKV 

Prompt  action  is  taken  whenever  the  forests  are  in  any  way  threat- 
ened. The  "chestnut  tree  blight,"  which  has  so  endangered  the  chestnut 
growth  from  one  end  of  the  State  to  the  other,  is  now  not  only  engaging 
the  attention  of  the  department,  but  a  commission  has  been  appointed, 
and  an  appropriation  made  for  the  suppression  of  the  evil.  Grave  as 
is  this  menace  to  Pennsylvania  forests,  the  present  activity  makes  it 
plain  that  whatever  may  be  done  to  minimize  the  etifects  of  the  blight 
will  be  done. 

Pennsylvania  has  the  largest  and  strongest  forestry  organization  in 
the  United  States — the  Pennsylvania  Forestry  Association.  Arbor  Day 
has  been   constantly  observed   in  the  public   schools,  and  by  the  people 


43 


Peiuisylz'ania  and  Its  Manifold  .Ictiiitics 

generally,  since  1887.  Since  that  year  a  constant  effort  has  been  made 
by  the  State  to  induce  private  individuals  to  practice  forestry  by  allowing 
a  rebate  of  taxes  on  forest  lands,  but  in  each  case  the  laws  have  been 
declared  unconstitutional,  and  the  forestry  authorities  are  still  trying  to 
have  some  law  passed  vv^hich  will  stand  the  test.  The  Forestry  Associa- 
tion, during  the  last  decade,  has  continued  its  activities  in  the  matter 
of  spreading  forestry  knowledge  and  keeping  up  the  interest  generally 
in  forestry  work.  The  women's  clubs  and  the  press  of  the  State  have 
assisted  to  an  important  extent  in  this  work.  Recently  a  State  branch 
of  the  National  Conservation  Association  has  been  organized,  and  has 
begun  a  work  in  the  matter  of  spreading  forestry  information. 

xA.s  compared  with  other  States,  Pennsylvania  is  undoubtedly  in 
the  lead  in  forestry  work.  In  the  number  of  acres  owned,  Pennsylvania 
is  exceeded  only  by  the  State  of  New  York;  but,  as  Gifford  Pinchot, 
former  National  Forester,  has  recently  said,  "Forestry  is  thriving  every- 
where in  New  York  except  in  the  forest."  Pennsylvania  not  only  has 
the  public  interested  in  forestry,  but  is  doing  practical  forestry  work 
on  the  lands  which  it  owns.  The  reserves  are  being  used  in  every  pos- 
sible way  for  the  service  of  the  people.  Approximately  10,000  persons 
were  on  these  lands  for  hunting  and  fishing  purposes  in  191 1.  There  is 
no  record  of  how  many  used  them  for  other  kinds  of  recreation. 

A  number  of  cities  and  towns  receive  a  constant  and  pure  supply  of 
water  from  the  protected  watersheds  within  the  forest  reserves.  The 
timber  on  these  lands  which  is  dead,  dying,  or  defective  is  being  placed 
upon  the  market  and  utilized  as  rapidly  as  possible.  Whenever  min- 
erals of  any  kind  are  found,  and  it  is  thought  wise  to  have  them  devel- 
oped, leases  are  granted  in  accordance  with  law.  On  the  South  Moun- 
tains a  large  area  has  been  set  aside  for  the  use  of  a  sanatorium  for 
tubercular  patients.  On  a  number  of  reserves  large  areas  are  set  aside 
as  game  refuges. 


44 


The  Advance  of  a  Giant  Industry 

Hhill  in  inii^ortance  among  the  elements  that  go  to  make  np  the 
natural  riches  of  Pennsylvania  may  be  ranked  that  belt  of 
cement  rock  in  what  is  known  as  the  Lehigh  district,  which 
has  made  possible  one  of  the  most  notable  of  Pennsylvania's  industrial 
developments.  The  history  of  this  period  of  development,  in  which  the 
production  of  the  Lehigh  district  has  gradually  expanded  until  it  has  now 
reached  the  total  of  more  than  26,ocxd,ooo  barrels  a  year,  may  truly  be 
regarded  as  one  of  the  most  absorbing  of  industrial  romances.  Over  the 
last  twenty-five  years  of  this  period  the  advance  in  production  has  been  by 
leaps  of  millions  of  barrels  annually.  Truly,  if  this  is  "the  cement  age," 
the  Lehigh  district  is  one  of  the  great  vital  factors  of  the  age. 

While  the  virtual  monopoly  which  in  1897  the  Lehigh  district 
enjo\ed  in  American  cement  production  has  been  gradually  w^eakened, 
it  may  be  said  that  there  has  not  been,  in  any  year  prior  to  191 1,  a  check 
to  the  growth  of  the  industry  in  that  region.  Cement  plants  have  sprung 
up  to  dot  tlie  country  from  Atlantic  to  Pacific.  Yet  the  natural  advantage 
enjoyed  by  the  chain  of  plants  that  tap  this  rich  vein  of  "cement  rock"  has 
maintained  for  the  Lehigh  district  its  leading  place  in  American  cement 
production. 

A  number  of  limestones,  suitable  for  use  as  Portland  cement  mate- 
rials, occur  in  Pennsylvania.  The  Ordovician  limestones,  which  furnish 
the  cement  rock  of  the  Lehigh  district,  occur  in  varying  development 
in  the  counties  of  Northampton,  Lehigh,  Berks,  Lebanon,  Dauphin, 
Cumberland,  Franklin,  Lancaster,  Center,  and  Blair,  and  to  a  much  less 
extent  in  several  other  counties  of  southeastern  Pennsylvania.  They 
belong  to  the  Shenandoah  group,  and  throughout  eastern  Pennsylvania 
they  are  underlain  by  a  highly  magnesian  rock  and  overlain  by  a  thick 
series  of  shale  and  slate.  These  limestones  are  here  and  there  within 
the  allowable  limit  of  magnesia,  and  are,  therefore,  in  such  places  an 
excellent  Portland  cement  material.  Li  places  their  value  is  increased 
by  the  presence  of  a  high  percentage  of  clayey  matter,  which  renders 
the  material  a  natural  cement  rock. 

The  Lehigh  cement  belt  extends  from  Siegfried,  Pa.,  to  Phillipsburg, 

45 


Peiiiisyli'diiiii  and  Its  Manifold  .Ictii'itics 


46 


The   .Idraiicc    of   a    (naitt    Iitditstry 

N.  1.  These  rocks  are  laiiiinated  water  lime  rocks,  and  by  reason  of  their 
chemical  composition,  as  well  as  their  structural  character,  are  specially 
adapted  to  the  manufacture  of  Portland  cement. 

The  first  American  Portland  cement  plant  was  that  of  the  Coplay 
Cement  Company,  of  which  Mr.  David  O.  Saylor,  of  Allentown,  was  the 
president.     This   plant   was   established   about    1865,   and    made    natural 


GATUN    LOCK     AND    GATES,    PANAMA     CANAL.      PITTSBURGH     STEEL 
AND     LEHIGH     CEMENT 

cement  of  excellent  quality.  Mr.  Saylor,  who  was  a  man  of  indomitable 
energy  and  great  ability,  made  up  his  mind  in  the  early  seventies  that 
he  could  make  Portland  cement  in  this  country,  and  his  first  experiments 
are  most  interesting.  He  knew  that  by  burning  to  incipient  vitrifaction 
the  rocks  of  his  quarry  he  could  make  a  cement  that  after  short  periods 
showed  tensile  strains  equal  to  the  imported  Portland,  but  he  found  this 
cement  would  crumble  away  as  time  went  on,  owing  to  the  variation  in 
the  raw  material.  Mr.  Saylor  studied  out  and  successfully  applied  to 
the  Lehigh  rocks  the  principle  which  to-day  governs  the  production  of 
Portland  cement. 

The  various  lavers  in  the  natural  rock  vary  in  size  and  stratification, 


47 


Pciiiisylz'aiiia  and  Its  Manifold  .Ictizitics 

so  that  the  liiiK',  alumina,  and  silica  may  not  be  in  position  to  combine 
under  heat,  or  there  may  be  too  much  of  one  ingredient,  or  not  enough 
of  the  others  in  close  proximity  to  each  other.  In  making  Portland 
cement  these  rocks.  pro]ierly  proportioned,  are  accordingly  broken  down 
and  the  laminae  distributed  in  many  small  grains.  This  powder  is  then 
mixed  with  water,  and  is  made  into  a  new  stone  in  the  shape  of  a  brick. 


ROTARY    CEMENT    KILNS 


or  block,  in  which  all  the  small  grains  formerly  composing  the  laminae 
of  the  original  rock  are  distributed  and  brought  into  a  close  mechanical 
juxtaposition  to  each  other.  The  new  rock  thus  made  is  put  into  kilns 
with  layers  of  coke,  and  is  then  calcined  at  temperatures  from  1600° 
to  1800°  F.  The  clinker,  as  it  comes  from  the  kiln,  is  then  crushed  and 
ground  to  an  impalpable  powder,  which  is  the  Portland  cement  of  com- 
merce. Portland  cement  may  be  made  from  other  materials,  such  as 
chalk  and  clay,  limestone  and  clay,  cement  rock  and  limestone,  and  marls 
and  clays.  In  every  case  the  principle  is  the  same,  the  breaking  down 
and  the  redistributing  of  the  materials  so  that  the  fine  particles  may  be 
in  close  mechanical  union  when  subjected  to  the  heat  of  the  kiln. 

It  was  this  principle  which  Mr.  Saylor  worked  out  in  his  experiments 


48 


The   Advance   of   a    Uiaiit    Jiniustry 

which  founded  the  cement  inchistry  in  tlie  Lehigh  region.  From  this 
beginning  the  industry  spread  rapicUy  until  a  chain  of  phuits  tapped  the 
cement  ledge  from  end  to  end. 

The  early  manufacturer  in  the  United  States  had  difficulty  enough 
in  persuading  architects  and  engineers  to  use  this  material  at  all,  and  it 
was  onl}-  upon  the  statement  that,  in  chemical  constitution,  its  ingredients 


CONCRETE     ARCH     BRIDGE     SPANNING     THE     VALLEY     OF     THE     WISSAHICKON     AT 
WALNUT    LANE,    PHILADELPHIA 

were  similar  to  those  of  the  well-known  Portland  cements  of  Europe, 
and  that  it  was  made  by  similar  processes,  that  he  was  able  to  get  a 
hearing,  though  he  was  still  handicapped  by  the  fact  that  the  material  was 
made  from  new  ingredients,  and  also  by  new  processes. 

American  Portland  cement,  even  as  late  as  the  nineties,  had  to  show 
its  right  to  exist  as  an  engineering  material,  and  its  right  to  be  trusted 
with  the  duty  of  carrying  the  strains  which  are  now  expected  of  it.  The 
well-known  and  successfully  made  brands  of  England  and  Germany  had 
carried  the  burdens  imposed,  and  had  carried  them  well,  and  the  market 
was  at  their  command. 

The  greatest  period  of  the  development  of  the  industry  followed 
the  introduction  of  the  rotary  kiln.     Originally,  rotary  kilns  of  40  feet  in 


49 


Pennsylvania  and  Its  Manifold  Activities 

length  were  considered  large,   but  experimenters,  among  them  Thomas 
A.  Edison,  soon  increased  this  length  to  150  feet. 

In  the  process  of  cement-making,  the  material  is  fed  into  the  upper 
end  of  the  kiln  from  tanks.  'J'he  kiln  revolves  at  the  rate  of  from  one- 
half  to  one  revolution  per  minute,  and  is  inclined  from  the  stack,  where 
the  material  is  fed  in,  to  the  discharge  end.     The  mix  gradually  works 


GATUN    rPl'HK    1.1 11  K,    PANAMA    CANAL.       BUILT   OF   PENNSYLVANIA    CEMENT 

its  w^ay  down  to  a  point  near  the  discharge  end.  At  this  point,  which 
varies  according  U)  the  materials  used,  and  the  length  of  the  kiln,  in 
what  i>^  called  the  fire  zone,  the  calcining  of  the  material  takes  place. 
The  material  at  the  upper  part  of  the  kiln  gives  up  its  carbonic  acid  gas 
and  moisture  under  the  flame  directed  upon  it  from  the  lower  end. 

This  lower  end  of  the  kiln  projects  into  a  stationary  or  movable 
hood,  which  forms  a  shield  to  protect  the  burner  and  regulate  the  admis- 
sion of  air.  In  this  hood  are  nozzles,  which  supply  the  requisite  fuel. 
The  mechanism  for  feeding  the  powdered  coal  varies  in  different  mills. 
In  practically  everv  case,  however,  there  are  nozzles,  through  which  the 
pulverized  fuel  is  driven  by  blast,  at  either  high  or  low  pressure,  regu- 
lated  b\'   the   burner.     The   stream   of   i)owdere(l   coal    from    the   nozzles 


50 


The   .lifnuicc    of   a    Giant    Industw 


51 


Pciiitsylz'tiiiia  and  Its  Manifold  Jctii'itics 

carries  with  it  a  certain  quantity  of  air,  from  around  the  hood  or  from 
other  openings,  arxd  this  supports  combustion.  As  the  pulverized  fuel 
strikes  the  heated  kihi  and  is  transformed  into  gas,  a  series  of  explosions 
takes  place.  The  flame  goes  through  the  kiln,  drives  out  the  carbonic 
acid  gas  and  moisture  from  the  material  at  the  far  end,  and  burns  the 
material  in  the  lire  zone  to  incipient  vitrifaction.  After  calcination,  the 
material  goes  to  the  discharge  end,  where  it  falls  into  elevators  or  con- 
veyors, by  which  it  is  carried  to  cooling  towers,  which  are  large  iron 
cylinders  subjected  to  forced  draft,  and  in  which  the  material  as  it  falls 
is  fully  exposed  to  the  cool  air.  It  then  goes  to  the  grinding  mill,  where 
it  is  ground  to  almost  impalpable  fineness. 

Up  to  the  year  1896  the  development  of  the  industry  in  the  Lehigh 
region  was  slow.  In  that  year  it  exceeded  1,000,000  barrels  for  the  first 
time.  In  the  ensuing  14  years  it  advanced  to  26,284,411  barrels.  The 
following  table  shows  the  advance  in  production,  and  shows  also  how,  as 
the  industry  has  grown  in  other  parts  of  the  country,  the  Lehigh  per- 
centage of  the  entire  production  has  decreased : 

Portlaxd-Cement   Production  in   the  Lehigh     District     and     in     the     United 
States,  1890-igio,  in  Barrels 

LeM.hDis.Hct  En..e  U.  S.        .^-^Duf^, 

1890      201,000  335.500  60.0 

1891  248,500  454.813  547 

1892  280,840  547.440  51.3 

1893  265,317  590,652  44.9 

1894  485,329  798,757  60.8 

189s  634,276  990,324  64.0 

1896  1.048,154  1,543,023  68.1 

1897  2.002,059  2,677,775  74-8 

1898  2,674,304  3,692,284  72.4 

1899  4,110,132  5,652,266  72.7 

1900  6 153,629  8,482,020  72.6 

1901  8,595,340  12,711,225  67.7 

1902  10.829,922  17,230,644  62.8 

1903  12,324.922  22.342,973  55.2 

1904  M.21 1 .039  26,505,881  53  7 

1905  >  7.368,687  35,246,812  49.3 

1006  22,784,613  46,463,424  49.0 

1907  24.417,686  48,785,390  50.0 

1908  20,200.387  51.072,612  39.6 

1909  24,246,706  64,991,431  37-3 

1910  26,284,41 1  76.549,951  34.3 

The  estimated  figures  for  191 1  show  a  slight  falling  off  from  1910. 
The  production  is  estimated  at  25,924,516  barrels,  and  the  total  ship- 
ments from  the  region,  25,634.671  barrels.     However,  in  western  Penn- 

52 


Tlic   .Idi'aiicc   of   a    Giant    luditstrx 

sylvaiiia.  where  the  enormous  ])huit  of  the  Universal  Portland  Cement 
Company  is  located,  there  was  an  increase  in  ])r()duction  from  6,07^,987 
to  6,675,294  barrels,  and  an  increase  in  shipments  from  5.615,662  to 
6,553,895  barrels.  Pennsylvania,  therefore,  held  its  dominating  position 
in  the  cement  industry. 

Twenty-tive  plants  produced  Portland  cement  in  Pennsylvania  in 
1910.     Of  these,  20  plants  were  located  in  the  Lehigh  district  as  follows: 

Blanc  Stainless  Cement  Company,  Allentown. 
Bath  Portland  Cement  Company,  Bath. 
Pennsylvania  Cement  Company,  Bath. 

Atlas  Portland  Cement  Company,  Northampton  and  Coplay. 
Coplay  Cement  Manufacturing  Company,  Coplay. 
Central  Cement  Company,  Egypt. 
Reliance  Cement  Company,  Lesley. 
American  Cement  Company  of  Pennsylvania,  Egypt. 
Alpha   Portland  Cement   Company,   Martins   Creek. 
Dexter  Portland  Cement  Company.  Nazareth. 
Nazareth  Cement  Company,  Nazareth. 
Phoenix  Portland  Cement  Company,  Nazareth. 

Lehigh  Portland  Cement  Company,  Ormrod,  \\'est  Coplay,  and 
Fogelsville. 

Penn-Allen  Cement  Company.  Penn-Allen,  near  Nazareth. 
Lawrence  Portland  Cement  Company,  Siegfried. 
Allentown  Portland  Cement  Company,   Evansville. 
Northampton   Portland   Cement   Company,   Stockertown. 

All  of  these  plants  use  limestone  and  "cement  rock"  or  "cement  rock" 
alone,  except  the  Blanc  Stainless  Cement  Company,  which  uses  lime- 
stone and  clay  and  produces  a  white  Portland  cement.  Aside  from 
these  plants  there  are  five  Pennsylvania  plants  not  in  the  Lehigh  district, 
as  follows :  The  Universal  Portland  Cement  Company,  at  Universal,  near 
Pittsburgh,  wdiich  uses  blast  furnace  slag  and  limestone;  the  New  Castle 
Portland  Cement  Company,  and  the  Lehigh  Portland  Cement  Company 
(formerly  the  Shenango  Company),  at  New  Castle,  utilizing  limestone 
and  shale  ;  the  Crescent  Portland  Cement  Company,  at  Wampum,  also 
using  limestone  and  shale ;  and  the  Sandusky  Portland  Cement  Company, 
at  York,  which  manufactures  a  white  Portland  cement  from  limestone 
and  clay.     Nearly  all  these  plants  use  coal   for   fuel.     In  two  cases  oil 

53 


Pciiitsyli'ajiid  and  Its  Manifold  .  Icthitics 

is  reported  as  used   for   fuel,  and   in  one  case  Ij(jth  oil  and  coal  arc  the 
fuel. 

An  idea  of  the  mai^nitude  of  these  ])lants  is  given  by  the  fact  that 

when    the     isthmian    Canal    Coniniissidn    wanted    4,500,000    barrels  of 

cement  for  use  in  the  construction  of  locks  and  the  (latun  Dam,  on  the 

Panama  Canal,  a  single  compan\'  could,  and  did,  contract  to  deliver  the 
entire  amount  when  and  as  needed. 


^^^ 


REFORESTATION     OF     PEN  N SYLVAN' I  A.       ITLTIVATI 


OF    WHITE     PINE     SEEDLINGS 


Perhaps  no  chapter  in  cement  history  is  more  amazing  than  that 
which  tells  of  the  advance  of  the  product  into  new  fields — the  creation 
of  new  uses.  Cement  is  found  to-day  in  scores  of  places  where  a  decade 
ago  it  would  not  be  dreamed  of.  From  the  elemental  uses,  cement 
quickly  advanced  to  the  stage  where  it  is  in  use  in  practically  every 
type  of  structural  work.  Its  fire-proofing  value  was  one  of  the  many 
reasons  for  this  expansion.  Factories,  dwellings,  churches,  schools, 
office  buildings,  prisons,  lighthouses,  warehouses,  farm  buildings,  piers, 
bridges,  viaducts,  chimneys,  dams,  retaining  walls — all  these  construc- 
tions and  more — have  come  within  the  advancing  path  of  cement.  And 
this    ever-broadening   path    now    includes    telegraph    poles,    fence    posts. 


54 


The  Adixincc   of  a   Giant   Iiniiisfry 

household  utensils,  stoves,  safes,  vaults,  bee-hives,  hen's  nests,  wine 
vats,  pergolas,  arbors,  statuarv,  building  ornaments,  tombstones,  and 
burial  vaults. 

One  of  the  interesting  recent  developments  that  have  shown  new 
possibilities  for  cement  is  the  invention  of  wdiat  is  known  as  the  cement 
gun.     In  this  machine,   streams  of  sand,  cement,  and   water  are   forced 


tOXTKETE       BLEAeHhK^ 


\T    ATHLETIC    BASEBALL    PARK 
CHAMPIONSHIP    GAME 


JL'RING    A    WORLD  S 


through  separate  tubes  to  a  common  nozzle,  from  which  they  issue  in  a 
mixed  stream.  This  has  simplified  stucco  work,  and  has  made  possible 
many  new^  processes  in  structural  work.  This  gun  has  also  been  used  to 
protect  the  slopes  of  the  Culebra  Cut  of  the  Panama  Canal. 

As  Pennsylvania  enterprise  led  in  the  creation  of  the  cement  indus- 
try in  this  country,  and  in  the  perfecting  of  the  process  of  manufacture,  so 
it  has  led  in  the  extension  of  the  uses  for  cement. 

Export  of  cement  into  other  countries  is  steadily  increasing,  while 
imports  have  steadily  fallen.  Between  the  years  1890  and  1900  the 
imports  averaged  more  than  2,000,000  barrels  a  year,  and  in  two  or  three 
subsequent  years  they  approximated  this  amount;  but  after  1907  the 
falling  off  was  very  rapid. 

The  export  business  has  slowly,  but  steadily,  increased  with  the 
growing    appreciation    of    the    quality    of    American    cements.     Recent 


55 


rcintsylz'iuiia  and  Its  Manifold  ^Ictii'itics 

export  figures  are  soniewiiat  niisleading.  fur  the  reason  tliat  tliey  iiiclmle 
the  shii)]iients  \n  I'anama.  The  following-  tables  give  the  figures  of  iin])(u-ts 


export- 


1-"(>ki:i(;n   CE>nL\T,   1878-1910.  ix   Bakkei.s 


1878  92,000  1895    2,997,395 

1879  106,000  1896    2,980,597 

1880  187,000  1897 

1881  221,000  l^gg 


090,924 
1,152,861 


S-^^  370,406     J899  '...'...'...'.'.'.'.'.  2,108, 


1883  456.418 

1884  585,768 

1885  554-396 


1900  2,386,683 

1901  939,330 

;886  :::::::::::::::::::  015:255     ^902 1,963,023 


915,255 
1887 1,514095 


1903 2,251,969 

1888 1:835,534  ^904 968,409 

1889 1.740,356  1905 896,845 

1890 1,940,186  1906 2,273,493 

1891  2,988,313  1907 2,033,438 

1892 2,440,654  1908 842,121 

1893 2.674,149  1909 443,888 

1894 2,638,107  1910 306,863 

Exports  of  Hydraulic  Cemext,  i 900-1910,  in  Barrels 

1900     100,400  1906    583,299 

1901     373,934  1907    900,550 

Zl  :::;:::::;::::::;::  a?S     '^^ 846.5^ 

1904    774.940  1909    1,056,922 

1905    897,686  1910    2,475,957 

Pennsylvania  cement  manufacturers  are  appreciating  more  fully 
each  year  the  importance  of  developing  export  business,  as  the  construc- 
tion of  large  cement-making  plants  in  the  interior  of  the  country  restricts 
more  and  more  the  American  territory  in  which  they  may  profitably 
distribute  their  products. 


56 


Susquehanna  Power — Water  Supply 

IX  A'ARIOUS  parts  of  the  State  hydro-electric  power  plants  have 
been  and  are  being  installed  to  utilize  the  power  of  the  rivers  and 
streams.  Two  of  the  most  notable  of  these  enterprises  are  the  McCall 
Ferry  Power  Company  and  the  York  Haven  Power  Company,  both  on 
the  Susquehanna  River,  between  Harrisburg  and  the  Maryland  line. 
Of  these,  the  larger  is  that  at  McCall  Ferry,  which  supplies  power  to 
the  City  of  Baltimore,  Md. 

With  the  single  exception  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  the  Susquehatma  is 
the  largest,  as  to  flow  and  area  drain,  of  the  rivers  emptying  into  the 
North  Atlantic.  Draining  a  basin  which  covers  more  than  27,000  square 
miles,  it  has  a  length  of  200  miles  between  its  rise  in  Otsego  Lake  and 
its  mouth.  It  is,  however,  navigable  for  only  a  few  miles  inland  from 
Chesapeake  Bay.  The  main  trunk  of  the  river  at  its  junction  of  the 
north  and  west  branches  at  Sunbury  has  an  elevation  of  450  feet  above 
sea  level.  The  distance  from  this  point  to  its  entrance  to  the  Chesapeake 
Bay  at  Havre  de  Grace  is  121  miles,  thus  giving  an  average  gradient 
of  3.7  feet  per  mile.  The  numerous  rapids  below  Harrisburg,  taken  in 
connection  with  the  larger  discharge  due  to  increasing  area  of  watershed 
and  attractive  sites  for  dams,  had  long  claimed  the  attention  of  engineers 
and  others  interested  in  water-power  developments.  The  Susquehanna 
is  so  situated  that  it  has  exceptionally  good  markets  for  power. 

The  dry  weather  flow  of  the  Susquehanna  River  at  Harrisburg  is 
better  than  that  of  most  of  the  other  large  rivers  in  this  State,  and  it  is 
still  better  at  McCall  Ferry,  owing  to  the  large  dry  weather  flow  of  Yellow 
Breeches  and  Swatara  Creeks. 

In  October,  1905,  the  company  began  to  clear  the  wooded  hillsides 
a  half  mile  below  McCall  Ferry  for  the  construction  of  its  immense  plant. 
The  plans  provided  for  a  spillway  2500  feet  long,  connected  to  the  Lan- 
caster County  shore  by  a  power  house  500  feet  long.  The  width  of  the 
river  at  this  point  is  about  2700  feet.  All  parts  of  the  work  are  designed 
for  such  a  flood  as  will  procure  a  flow  of  17  feet  over  the  crest  of  the 
dam,  for  that  is  the  greatest  flood  ever  known  in  the  river.  This  was 
in  1889,  the  year  of  the  Johnstown  disaster.     The  power  house  has  ten 

57 


rcniisyl'raiiiii  and  !ts  Manifold  .  Ictiiitics 

units,  each  c()nsislin<(  of  a  pair  of  Francis  type  turbines  mounted  on 
vertical  shafts,  l^ach  unit  has  a  capacity  of  13.500  meclianical  horse- 
power. 

The  7500  K.W.  generators  embody  the  latest  practice.  They  are 
approximately  27  feet  in  diameter  over  all,  and  each  weighs  complete 
145   tons.     With  each  unit  there   is  jjrovided  a  Ijrake,   so  that   it  may  be 


PENSTOCK     FOR     H  VDKO-ELECTRIC     PLANT     IN     MEXICO,     BUILT     BY     RITER-CONLEV 
MANUFACTL'RIXG    COMPANY.    PITTSBURGH 

brought  to  rest  without  undue  delay,  for  such  a  spinning  top  is  a  revolv- 
ing element  weighing  335,000  pounds  at  94  revolutions  a  minute,  that 
if  left  to  itself  would  run  for  many  hours  after  the  water  is  cut  ofi. 

The  plant  has  a  53-foot  head  and  about  3.75  square  miles  of  pondage. 
It  was  designed  to  deliver  from  the  stream  flow  alone  75  per  cent,  of 
its  capacity,  or  75,000  commercial  horsepower,  on  an  average  of  31 T 
days  in  the  year,  and  its  full  capacity  285  days  in  the  year. 

It  is  the  expectation  that  the  future  will  see  the  construction  of 
storage  on  the  waters  above  the  plant,  which  will  largely  increase  the 
constant  dependable  flow. 

Though  the  McCall  Ferry  dam  is  a  solid  concrete  structure  50  feet 


58 


SiiS(jiicliaiiiia   Power — Jl'atcr   Siif^f^lv 

his^h,  it  is  j^rovided  that  this  shall  not  be  a  bar  to  navigation  should  the 
river  be  improved  later.  The  company  is  under  obligations  to  install 
the  necessary  locks,  should  there  be  need  of  them  in  any  future  plan  for 
the  navigation  of  the  river. 

The  York  Haven  Power  Company  distributes  electric  power  to 
riarrisburg  and  York.  The  plant  is  of  20  units,  each  of  1 100  horse- 
power. 

The  Ijroad  rivers  of  Pennsylvania,  viewed  solely  as  a  means  of  com- 
munication, have  been  the  chief  factor  in  the  development  of  the  trade 
and  industry  of  the  State.  The  paths  cut  by  them  among  its  hills  and 
mountains  made  possible  the  rapid  advance  of  the  railroads,  whose  road- 
beds follow  their  winding  courses.  The'  Delaware  on  the  east — the 
gateway  of  the  State  to  the  ocean ;  the  Ohio  on  the  west,  giving  access 
to  the  Mississippi  and  so  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico;  the  numerous  rivers 
between  them — have  each  borne  its  important  part  in  the  State's  advance 
in  prosperity. 

Conservation  of  these  waterways,  their  development  to  the  fullest 
degree  of  usefulness,  is  a  part  of  the  policy  of  the  State.  The  protection 
of  the  waters  of  Pennsylvania  is  placed  in  charge  of  the  State  Depart- 
ment of  Health  and  the  Water  Supply  Commission,  of  which  both  the 
Commissioner  of  Health  and  the  State  Forestry  Commissioner  are 
ex-officio  members.  Matters  pertaining  to  distribution  of  the  waters  are 
controlled  by  the  A\'ater  Supply  Commission  and  the  Forestry  Commis- 
sion, but  matters  relating  to  the  purity  of  the  w^aters,  both  above  and 
below  the  ground,  are  under  constant  supervision  and  control  of  the  State 
Department  of  Health. 

There  are  extended  areas  in  the  eastern  and  western  parts  of  Penn- 
sylvania's mountain  region,  where  the  aggregation  of  population  and  the 
operations  of  man  require  more  water  than  Nature  supplies  during 
droughts,  and  in  other  sections  of  Pennsylvania  the  uses  of  water  are 
such  that  the  supply  must  be  regulated  and  conserved  and  the  purity  of 
the  waters  maintained  to  meet  the  demands  of  the  people  of  the  Common- 
wealth, present  and  prospective.  The  State  has,  after  extended  and 
comprehensive  study  of  the  subject,  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  it  is 
imperative  that  the  waters  of  Pennsylvania  be  conserved  as  a  resource 
equally  with  the  soils  and  forests  and  coals  and  other  natural  resources. 

The  regulation  of  the  flow  of  streams  by  the  building  of  storage  reser- 
voirs to  hold  the  freshet  yields  and  deliver  them  uniformly  throughout  the 
year   is   a   tremendously   expensive   undertaking,   and   will   not   result   in 

59 


Peiuisylzaitia  and  Its  Manifold  Activities 


60 


SiiS(]iic/iaiiiia  Poller — JVatcr  Supply 

construction  to  any  large  extent,  unless  these  storage  reservoirs  serve 
some  other  purpose.  The  storage  of  water  must,  from  the  economic 
basis,  be  brought  about  in  conjunction  with  the  development  of  power 
by  that  water  and   in  conjunction  with  transportation  problems. 

Since  its  organization,   in    1905,   the  Water  Supply   Commission  of 
Pennsvlvania  has  carried  on  a  svstematic  examination  of  the  domestic 


,T,    llVUkn-LLLCTRIC   COMPANY,    SCHUYLKILL 
RIVER,    NEAR    PHILADELPHIA 


and  industrial  water-supply  systems  in  the  Commonwealth,  involving 
the  examination  of  all  municipal,  incorporated  and  many  of  the  numerous 
small  private  water  works.  This  work  has  now  been  completed.  Each 
plant  was  visited  and  examined  by  a  representative  of  the  commission, 
and  the  facts  ascertained  incorporated  into  reports  upon  the  conditions 
of  the  water  supply  of  each  county.  Maps  were  prepared  of  each  county, 
upon  which  were  plotted  the  sources  of  supply  of  the  various  water- 
supply  systems,  pipe  lines,  reservoirs,  points  of  distribution,  etc., 
indicating  the  streams  which  are  in  use  and  the  purpose  or  purposes 
to  which  they  are  devoted.  In  addition  to  this,  all  the  charters  granted 
by  the  State  for  water  companies  were  investigated  and  their  disposition 
and  present  status  ascertained. 


61 


Peiuisylfaiiia  and  Its  Manifold  .Icthities 

There  is  no  sins^le  municipality  or  unincorporated  community  of  over 
2500  poi)ulati<>n  wliicli  lias  not  a  public  water-works  system,  while  there 
are  few  communities  having  between  1500  and  2500  population  not  being 
so  supplied,  and  where  such  exist  it  is  usually  due  to  the  physical  features 
of  the  surrounding  country,  character  of  the  inhabitants,  or  legal  ditft- 
culties  preventing-  the  use  of  favorable  sources  of  supply.  Most  towns 
of  over  1000  population  are  provided  with  public  water  supplies. 

Statistics  for  1909  show  that  there  were  175 1  water  and  water- 
power  companies  incorporated  in  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  of  which 
851,  or  49  per  cent.,  are  in  active  operation.  Of  the  incorporated  com.- 
panics,  1474.  or  84  \w\-  cent.,  arc  for  the  sujjply  to  the  public:  126.  or 
7  per  cent.,  for  commercial  and  manufacturing  purposes;  84  are  water- 
power  companies,  and  67  were  incorporated  for  both  the  supply  of  the 
public   and    for   commercial   and   manufacturing  purposes. 

Probably  the  first  water-works  system  to  be  put  in.  operation  in 
Pennsylvania  is  that  supplying  the  village  of  Shaetiferstown,  Lebanon 
County,  an  unincorporated  village  of  about  1000  population.  This  plant 
is  now  owned  by  the  ShaelTerstown  Water  Company,  incorporated  by 
Special  Act  in  1845.  The  works  were  built  by  a  Air.  Shaetfer  about 
1732,  and  at  his  death  were  left  to  the  town,  each  property  owner  on 
the  main  street  becoming  a  stockholder,  and  all  such  stockholders  paying 
10  cents  per  head  per  year  for  each  member  of  the  family ;  others  not 
stockholders  pay  20  cents  per  head  per  year. 

The  first  water  w^orks  pumping  plant  in  Pennsylvania  was  built  at 
Bethlehem,  Northampton  County,  in  1754,  by  Hans  Christopher  Chris- 
tiansen. The  water  was  obtained  from  a  spring  rising  near  Alonocacy 
Creek  and  was  pumped  by  means  of  water  power  into  a  wooden  dis- 
tributing tank.  The  first  steam  pumping  plant  in  Pennsylvania  was 
installed  in  Philadelphia  in  1801,  the  water  being  taken  from  the  Schuyl- 
kill River  at  the  foot  of  Chestnut  Street.  On  the  site  of  the  present 
Citv  Hall  was  a  secondary  pumping  station  with  elevated  tanks,  from 
which  the  distribution  was  effected.  The  earliest  water  company 
incorporated  in  Pennsylvania  was  the  Water  Pipes  of  Aaronsburg. 
incorporated  by  Special  Act  of  the  Legislature,  March  25,  1809,  for 
the  supply  of  water  in  Aaronsburg  village,  Center  County.  The  oldest 
incorporated  water  company  wdiich  is  still  in  active  operation  is  the  York 
Water  Company,  incorporated  February  8,  1816,  for  the  supply  of  water 
in  the  City  of  ^'ork.  It  was  the  second  water  company  to  be  incorporated 
in   Pennsylvania. 

62 


TRANSPORTATION 

IN 

PENNSYLVANIA 


DIMNER    BEEBER 
Chairman  Committee  on  Patrons 


COLEMAN  SELLERS,  JR 
Vice-chairman  Com 

siiection  of  Public  Works 


ALBA    B.    JOHNSON 

Chairman  Committee  oi 

Exhibition 


GEORGE   K.   SPROULE 

Sec'y-Treas.  Local  Organizii 

Commission 


The  Ruins  of  a  Once  Great  System 

THE  history  of  transportation  in  Pennsylvania  naturally  divides 
itself  into  three  great  epochs:  First,  that  of  the  state  canals — a 
system  which  cost  $100,000,000,  only  to  be  generally  discontinued 
as  a  new  and  antagonistic  force  came  into  existence.  Second,  the  great 
period  of  railroad  development,  during  which  the  Commonwealth  advanced 
with  giant  strides  in  material  prosperity,  and  during  which  also  the 
canals  were,  one  after  another,  discontinued,   forming  in   some  of  their 


STAGE     COACH     ON     RAILS     OF     THE      MAIN     LINE     OF     THE     PUBLIC     WORKS     OF 

PENNSYLVANIA.      THE    TRACKS     WERE    RESERVED    FOR    PRIVATE 

CONVEYANCES    DURING    CERTAIN    HOURS    OF    EVERY    DAY 

sections  the  roadbetl  of  railroads.  Third — and  this  epoch  is  now  dawning 
— the  epoch  when  canal  development  along  modern  lines  will  supplement 
the  great  railroad  systems,  already  loaded  to  capacity  with  the  vast  carry- 
ing business  of  the  State,  and  will  lift  from  the  railroads  a  part  of  the 
burden  of  such  classes  of  freight  as  may  be  most  profitably  and  satisfac- 
torily waterborne. 

Nor  is  it  the  view  of  advanced  railroad  men  that  this  now-dawning 
era  will  mean  any  diminution  of  railroad  prosperity,  for  it  is  confidently 
believed   that   the   development   of   inland   waterways   will   operate   as   a 


65 


I'ciiiisylz'iiniii  ami  Its  Manifold  .Ictirities 


thp:  old  way  bv  land.       conkstcga   wagon   crossing  the   alle(;henie; 


THE    OLD    WAV    ]1V     WATER.  PAS!: 

CANAL    BASIN    AT    FOOT    OF 


CKR    I'A(  KKT     AND    FREIGHT     DARGE 
.EGHE.NV    PORTAGE    RAILROAD 


66 


The   Kuiiis   of   a    Once    Great   System 

new  spur  to  industry,  creating  for  the  railroads — and  leaving  them  freer 
to  carry — a  larger  volume  of  profitable  merchandise  traffic. 

It  was  natural  that  the  primitive  canal  system  of  the  first  half  of  the 
last  century  should  be  crushed  out  of  existence  in  its  fight  to  stem  the 
tide  of  railroad  supremacy.  Jt  is  equally  natural  and  logical  that  canal 
development  should  now  come  to  supplement  the  railroads  in  the  vast 
carrvinw  business  of  the  State  and  the  Nation. 


SUMMIT    OF    ALLE(^ll•:^^•    p 

PEXXSVLVANIA,    SHOVVIX( 


SECTIONAL   CANAL   BARGE   ON    WHEELED    TRUCKS 


The  extensive  system  of  canals,  which  in  the  middle  of  the  last 
century  was  one  of  the  glories  of  the  Commonwealth,  had  its  beginnings 
as  far  back  as  1761,  wlien  commissioners  were  appointed,  having  authority 
for  clearing,  scouring,  and  making  the  River  Schuylkill  navigable  for 
boats  and  small  vessels  generally.  This  improvement  was  to  cover  the 
distance  from  the  Blue  Mountains  to  the  Delaware  River.  This  may 
be  regarded  as  the  inaugural  step  in  the  creation  of  the  Schuylkill  Navi- 
gation Company,  which  bore  so  important  a  part  in  the  development  of 
the  great  natural  resources  of  the  State,  and  whose  subsequent  works 
were  monuments  of  earlv  engineering  skill. 


67 


Pennsylvania  and  Its  Manifold  Activities 

The  actual  construction  of  the  canal  system  itself,  however,  may 
be  dated  back  to  1791,  when  the  sum  of  £25,720  was  appropriated  for 
the  construction  of  waterways,  removing  obstructions  from  the  rivers, 
and  building  the  roads  to  connect  links  forming  the  line  of  w^ater  com- 
munication. This  was  the  beginning  of  a  great  system  which,  in  time, 
spread  as  a  tree  over  the  State,  having  as  its  stem  the  Main  Line  Canal. 


"9 

^^^^^£l           .,     ■- 

^Hil 

m^^^i^ 

Rii 


Sta 


Capitol.  H,i 


ihurg.  Pa 


TRAIN     ON     THE     OLD     STATE     PORTAGE     RAILROAD     CROSSING     THE      ALLIX.HEXY 
MOUNTAINS.      CANAL  BARGES   WERE  TRANSPORTED  IN   SECTIONS   SET  ON 
WHEELED  TRUCKS.      THESE   MADE  THE  ENTIRE  TRIP  BETWEEN 
PHIL.'VDELPHIA    AND    PITTSBURGH,    BEING    TAKEN    OFF 
THE     TRUCK     FOR     THAT     PORTION      OF      THE 
JOURNEY      WHICH      WAS      ACCOM- 
PLISHED  BY   CANAL 

These  were,  however,  but  beginnings,  and  it  was  not  until  the  admin- 
istration of  John  Andrew  Shulze  as  Governor  that,  in  1823,  the  demand 
for  a  system  of  internal  waterways  improvements  became  insistent.  It 
was  in  accordance  with  this  demand  that  an  act  of  Assembly  was  passed 
in  1824,  under  which  commissioners  were  appointed  to  survey  and 
explore   a    route    for    a   canal    from    Harrisburg   to    Pittsburgh,    by    the 


68 


Tlie  Ruins  of  a   Once   Great  System 

waters  of  the  Juniata  and  Conemaugh  rivers.  Under  an  act  passed  in 
1825,  surveys  were  begun  preparatory  to  the  estabhshment  of  a  navigable 
communication  between  the  eastern  and  western  waters  of  the  State  and 
Lake  Erie.  In  1826  an  act  was  passed  "to  provide  for  the  commence- 
ment of  a  canal,  to  be  constructed  at  the  expense  of  the  State,  and  to  be 
styled  The  Pennsylvania  Canal."     This  was  to  extend   from  the  River 


#$df^i 


JS^^*- 


ai^MjSliM^jaai^ 


[i^-Li A  i"f  C J!l  I'i^ Ai^f O-F  Dii'TAl'J Oi^f  C  OiVJ  PAri T 

^  -.  ^  'VIA»  ,         ^ 

' Pennsylvania  UaW  Uoi\^i^n\^  ■CL'anal'^. 

FUOM    PHILADELPHIA  To    PITTSBURG 


COPY  OF   AN   OLD   TRAFFIC   ANNOUNCEMENT  FOR  THE    MAIN   LINE   OF   THE   PUBLIC 
WORKS   OF   PENNSYLVANIA 

Swatara,  at  or  near  Middletown,  to,  a  point  en  the  eastern  side  of  the 
Susquehanna  River  opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Juniata,  and  from  Pitts- 
burgh to  the  mouth  of  the  Kiskiminetas.  Further,  the  commissioners 
were  authorized,  as  soon  as  they  should  deem  it  expedient  and  practicable, 
to  construct  a  navigable  feeder  from  French  Creek  to  the  summit  level 
of  Conneaut  Lake,  and  to  survey  and  locate  the  route  of  a  canal  from 
thence  to  Lake  Erie.  Further  extensions  were  authorized  in  the  succeed- 
ing year,  when  it  was  planned  to  locate  and  contract  for  the  making  of  a 
canal  and  locks  up  the  valley  of  the  Juniata,  from  the  eastern  section  of 
the  Pennsylvania  Canal  to  a  point  near  Lewistown ;  also  a  canal  and  locks 
up  the  valley  of  the  Kiskiminetas  and  the  Conemaugh  from  the  western 


69 


Pcmisy!z'aiiia  and  Its  Manifold  .Ictivities 

section  of  the  Pennsylvania  Canal  to  a  point  at  or  near  Blairsville ;  also 
a  canal  and  locks  up  the  valley  of  the  Susquehanna  to  a  point  at  or  near 
Northumberland. 

The  greatest  ])eriod  of  activity  in  canal  construction  began  in  1827. 
In  this  year  surveys  were  made  of  the  Juniata  Valley,  and  for  a  portage 
road  (>\er  the  Allegheny  Mountains,  to  ascertain  the  best  mode  of  con- 


Photoguifh  h)    Wdfied  H.  Sthof. 
DECAYING    CANAL     B( 


S-     ABANDONED    CANAL,     SUSQUEHANNA     RIVER, 
NEAR   HARRISBURG 


necting  the  lines  east  and  west.  Also  for  a  railway  to  extend  from 
Philadel])hia  to  Columbia  ;  also  a  survey  to  ascertain  the  practicability 
and  cost  of  forming  a  connection  of  the  Xorth  P)ranch  of  the  Susque- 
hanna and  the  Lehigh,  A  survey  was  also  ordered  down  both  sides  of 
the  Susquehanna  River  to  the  Maryland  line.  The  act  which  author- 
ized these  also  authorized,  among  other  surveys,  one  along  the  Dela- 
ware River  between  Philadelphia  and  Bristol,  and  the  immediate  com- 
mencement of  work  on  this  canal  in  the  direction  of  Easton. 

Even  before   the   activities  of  the   State  began,   incorporated   com- 
panies had  started  works  of  improvement.     The   Schuylkill   Navigation 


70 


The   Ruins   of  a   Once   Great   System 

Company  Canal,  covering  a  distance  of  io8  miles  np  the  Schuylkill 
Valley  from  Philadelphia,  was  constructed,  with  71  locks  to  overcome 
the  elevation  from  tidewater,  which  amounted  to  618  feet  between 
Philadelphia  and  the  upper  terminus,  at  ^lill  Creek.  Through  this  one 
canal  there  plied,  in  i8(>5.  1000  boats,  having  an  average  carrying  capacity 
of  170  tons.      Through  this  single  canal  there  were  carried  1,^00,000  tons 


ABANDONED     CANAL     BARGES     AND     STEAM     TOWBOAT     .\T     ENTRANCE     TO 

ABANDONED   CANAL    LOCK.       SUSQUEHANNA    RIVER, 

NEAR    HARRISBURG 


of  coal,  lumber,  iron  ore,  and  other  products  of  the  mines.  Up  to  this 
year  the  canal  had  cost  $12,250,000.  Another  of  these  enterprises  was 
the  Lehigh  Coal  and  Navigation  Canal,  authorized  by  the  Legislature  of 
1818  and  intended  primarily  to  carry  the  coal  tonnage  of  the  Lehigh 
Company  mines  to  Philadelphia. 

The  Union  Canal,  yy  miles  long,  extended  between  Aliddletown  and 
Reading,  via  Lebanon,  with  a  branch  22  miles  from  a  point  where  the 
canal  left  the  Swatara  Creek  to  Pine  Grove,  in  the  Schuylkill  coal  region. 
Through  this  canal  were  shipped  large  quantities  of  iron  ore  to  Danville 
and  other  points,  and  coal  was  returned  from  the  \\  yoming  region,  for 


Pcinisylz'aiiia  and  Its  Manifold  .-Ictiz'ities 

use  ill  the  furnaces  at  Lebanon.  There  were,  however,  in  this  canal  no 
fewer  than  one  hundred  lift-locks,  and  the  great  expense  of  lockage  was 
already  detrimental  to  the  shippers  and  carriers.  In  1885  this  canal, 
which  cost  more  than  $6,000,000,  was  sold  by  the  Sheriff  of  Philadelphia. 
Among  the  successful  enterprises  of  the  early  years  of  the  last  cen- 
tury was  the  Monongahela  Navigation  Company.     This  was  formed  by 


PASSENGER    STATION    AND    HOTEL,    AND    PASSENGER    TRAIN,    AT    SUMMIT    OF    THE 

ALLEGHENY    PORTAGE,    MAIN    LINE    OF    THE    PUBLIC    WORKS    OF 

PENNSYLVANIA 

private  subscription.  Sixteen  dams  were  constructed  across  the  Monon- 
gahela  River,  in  order  to  form  slackwater  navigation  with  locks  connecting 
the  pools.  In  1870  the  invested  capital  was  $1,003,500,  and  upon  this 
capital  10  per  cent,  dividends  were  divided.  The  annual  tonnage  was 
2,246,000,  of  which  2,188,000  tons  were  bituminous  coal.  In  1880  the 
coal  tonnage  was  increased  to  3,193,800,  and  a  dividend  of  12  per  cent, 
was  paid  on  the  capital  stock.  In  1890  the  capital  had  been  increased 
to  $1,632,000,  and  a  9  per  cent,  dividend  was  paid.  In  1897  the  United 
States  Government  assumed  possession  of  the  work  under  condemnation 
proceedings,  and  it  has  since  been  maintained  as  a  free  waterway. 

Thus  the  great  system  spread  fanlike  over  the  State.     Its  construc- 


72 


The  Ruins  of  a   Oticc   Great   System 

tion  involved  many  pieces  of  engineering  skill,  as,  for  instance,  a  tunnel 
600  feet  long  just  west  of  Lebanon,  with  a  flight  of  16  locks,  carrying  the 
canal  to  Swatara  Creek.  This  has  long  since  been  a  crumbling  ruin,  a 
fallen  monument  to  the  early  canal  enterprise. 

The     Portage     Railroad,     over     the     Allegheny     Mountains,     was 
described  by  David  Stevenson,  in  1838,  as  "a  mountain  railway  which, 


ALLEGHENY    PORTAGE    TUNNEL,    WEST   FACADE 

in  boldness  of  design  and  difficulty  of  execution,  compared  only  with 
the  Simplon  Pass  and  Mont  Cenis,  in  Savoy."  This  road  was  a  section 
of  the  Main  Line  Canal,  and  formed  a  part  of  what  is  now  the  Pittsburgh 
Division  of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad.  The  mountains  were  crossed  by 
means  of  a  system  of  inclined  planes  with  stationary  power.  The  total 
rise  from  tidewater  was  2585  feet.  The  different  planes  overcame  eleva- 
tions ranging  from  130  feet  up  to  307  feet.  The  steepest  ascent  was  10^4 
feet  in  100.  There  will,  of  course,  never  be  a  simpler,  more  graphic 
picture  of  this  mountain  road  than  the  following,  in  Charles  Dickens' 
"American  Notes,"  written  of  his  journey  in  1842: 

"We  had  left  Harrisburg  on  Friday.  On  Sunday  morning  we 
arrived  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain,  which  is  crossed  by  railroad.  There 
are  ten  inclined  planes,  five  ascending  and  five  descending;  the  carriages 
are  dragged  vip  the  former  and  let  slowly  down  the  latter  by  means  of 


73 


Peinisylzxiiiia  and  Jts  Manifold  .Ictivitics 

stalio!iar\-  engines,  the  comparatively  level  s])accs  between  being  trav- 
ersed sometimes  by  horse  and  sometimes  by  engine  jjower,  as  the  case 
demands.  OccasionalK-  the  rails  are  laid  u])on  the  extreme  verge  of  a 
giddy  |)reci])ice,  and.  looking  from  the  carriage  window,  the  traveler 
gazes  sheer  down,  without  a  stone  or  scrap  of  fence  between,  into  the 
mountain  depths  below.  The  journey  is  very  carefully  made,  however, 
only  two  carriages  traveling  together;  and,  while  proper  ])recautions  are 
taken,  is  not  to  be  dreaded  for  its  dangers." 

The  journey  westward  over  the  "Main  Line  of  the  Public  Works  of 
Pennsylvania"  began  at  Broad  and  Vine  streets,  Philadelphia.  Between 
that  point  and  Columbia,  on  the  Susquehanna,  rails  were  laid  wdiich 
carried  sectional  canal  boats  set  on  wdieel  trucks,  and  also  passenger 
coaches.  These  were  hauled  originally  bv  animal  towage.  They  moved 
over  the  Schuylkill  River,  then  up  the  Belmont  inclined  plane  by  steam 
power,  and  then  to  Columl)ia  by  animal  power.  There  the  canal  boat 
sections  were  ]Mnned  together  and  ])ut  on  the  river,  while  the  passengers 
took  canal  ])ackets.  The  traffic  moved  up  the  Susquehanna  and  Juniata 
rivers  to  the  basin  at  Hollidaysburg.  It  then  moved  up  the  Portage  Rail- 
road and  again  down  the  mountain  to  Johnstown.  From  this  point  it 
proceeded  through  the  Conemaugh.  Kiskiminttas,  and  Allegheny  Rivers 
to  Pittsburgh. 

This  was  a  public  work  on  which  every  citizen  had  the  right  to  travel 
in  his  own  conveyance.  After  the  importation  of  locomotives  from  Eng- 
land part  of  the  day  was  reserved  for  public  conveyance  and  part  for  the 
use  of  the  line  by  private  citizens. 

In  the  main,  this  great  system  of  engineering  works,  which  covered 
almost  every  section  of  the  State,  is  now  a  heap  of  ruins.  Here  and 
there  a  canal  bed,  tangled  with  thicket,  or  the  mud-imbedded  wreck  of 
a  canal  boat  marks  a  path  that  once  was  busy  with  moving  commerce. 

The  State  government  did  not  have  the  machinery  ade(|uate  to  operate 
this  system,  and  the  most  effective  service  was  given  by  private  com- 
panies operated  under  State  license.  The  State  was,  therefore,  entirely 
willing  to  turn  over  the  system  to  railroad  control,  and,  in  turning  it  over, 
much  went  and  was  discontinued  that,  in  the  belief  of  many  canal  advo- 
cates to-day,  should  have  been  preserved,  and  could  still  be  profitablv  used. 

Investigation  discloses  that  during  the  period  of  canal  development 
charters  were  granted  to  more  than  one  hundred  companies.  Many  of 
these  had  a  great  diversity  of  rights,  including  the  maintenance  of  turn- 
pikes, and,  in  some  cases,  even  the  conducting  of  insurance  business. 

74 


A  Survivor  of  the  Canal-Railroad  War 

IS  TJIE  theory  of  those  who  are  pressing  for  a  ct)ntiiuious  inland 
waterway  from  Xew  England  to  the  (nilf  of  Mexico  i)ractical  ? 
Or  has  the  development  of  railroad  transportation  along  the  sea- 
board made  canalization  of  the  minor  waterways  along  this  chain  imprac- 
tical, except,  possibly,  as  a  factor  in  the  control  of  railroad  rates? 

Fortunately  for  those  who  hold  that  even  the  minor  links  of  such 
a  canal  chain  would  at  once  demonstrate  their  value  to  commerce,  there 
still  exists  in  Pennsylvania  an  object  lesson  of  what  may  be  done  in 
the  way  of  economical  transportation  of  freights  with  a  canal  of  even 
the  restricted  dimensions  that  w^ere  considered  adequate  when  the  Penn- 
sylvaiiia  canal  system  was  in  its  zenith,  more  than  half  a  century  ago. 

This  is  the  Lehigh  Coal  and  Navigation  Canal,  which  extends  from 
Bristol,  Pa.,  to  Alauch  Chunk.  In  every  respect  this  canal  is  oper- 
ated imder  the  most  difficult  and  forbidding  conditions.  It  has  no  less 
than  seventy-five  locks,  and  it  reaches,  at  Mauch  Chunk,  an  elevation  of 
531  feet.  It  can  accommodate  canal  boats  of  only  100  gross  tons.  The 
upkeep  cost  may  be  considered  as  the  maximum.  Yet  to-day  this  most 
difficult  of  canal  enterprises,  nearly  a  century  behind  the  times  in  its 
dimensions,  is  transporting  coal  and  other  commodities  on  a  basis  of 
cost  that  makes  its  existence  still  advisable  and  profitable.  This  is 
largely  due  to  efficient  management ;  yet  as  an  object  lesson  in  the  pos- 
sibilities of  canalization,  the  Lehigh  Coal  and  Navigation  Canal  holds  a 
peculiar  interest  to-day  for  the  advocates  of  inland  waterway  improve- 
ment. 

This  survivor  of  the  early  I'ennsylvania  canal  system,  which  came 
through  the  war  between  canals  and  railroads,  dates  its  existence  to  the 
first  quarter  of  the  last  century. 

The  canal  was  brought  about  by  the  need  of  a  means  of  transpor- 
tation of  the  coal  of  the  Mauch  Chunk  region  to  Philadelphia,  which 
was  the  principal  market.  It  was  only  after  the  mines  of  the  Lehigh 
Coal  Mine  Company  had  lain  idle  for  years  because  of  the  impossibility 
of  floating  the  coal  to  market  that  the  first  steps  were  taken  for  the 
improvement  of  a  water  route  to  the  Delaware. 

75 


Peiinsylz'aiiia  and  Its  Manifold  .Ictizitics 

The  unl_\  canals  in  navigable  order  in  I'ennsylvania  at  that  time  were 
one  of  about  two  miles  in  length,  at  York  Haven,  on  the  Susquehanna, 
and  one  made  by  Josiah  White,  at  the  Falls  of  Schuylkill,  with  two  locks 
and  a  canal  length  of  three  or  four  hundred  yards. 

It  was  under  these  circumstances  that  the  Legislature  of  1818 
granted  the  jirivileges  of  the  "Act  to  improve  the  navigation  of  the  River 


LEHIGH     GAP 


Lehigh"  to  Josiah  White,  George  F.  A.  Hauto,  and  Erskine  Hazard. 
These  gentlemen  were  at  that  time  pointed  at  as  extremely  visionary, 
and  even  crazy,  for  accepting  the  terms. 

In  the  first  stages  of  the  improvement,  water  was  accumulated  by 
artificial  means,  and  let  ofif  at  stated  periods.  The  boats  were  passed 
down  with  the  long  wave  thus  formed,  which  filled  up  the  channel. 

This  was  efifected  by  constructing  dams  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Mauch  Chunk,  in  which  were  placed  sluice-gates  of  a  peculiar  construc- 
tion, invented  for  the  purpose  by  Josiah  White,  one  of  the  managers,  by 
means  of  which  the  water  could  be  retained  in  the  pool  above  until 
required  for  use.  When  the  dam  became  full,  and  the  water  had  run 
over  it  long  enough  for  the  river  below  the  dam  to  acquire  the  depth 
of  the  ordinary  flow  of  the  river,  the  sluice-gates  were  let  down,  and 
the  boats,  which  were  lying  in  the  pools  above,  passed  down  with  the 
artificial  flood.  About  twelve  of  these  dams  and  sluices  were  made  in 
1819.     With    what    work    had    been    done    in    making    wing    dams,    this 


76 


.1  Siirz'h'or  of  the  Canal-Railroad   IVar 

absorbed  the  capital  of  the  company — which,  on  the  first  plan  of  iinprove- 
ment,  would  have  been  adequate — before  the  whole  of  the  dams  were 
completely  protected  from  ice  freshets.  They  were,  however,  so  far 
completed  as  to  prove,  in  the  fall  of  that  year,  that  they  were  capable 
of  producing  the  required  depth  of  water  from  Mauch  Chunk  to  Easton. 
On  the  2 1  St  of  April  following,  the  Lehigh  Coal  Company  and  the 


EARLY    TRANSPORTATION    IN    PENNSYLVANIA 

Lehigh  Navigation  Company  agreed  to  amalgamate  their  interests,  and 
to  unite  themselves  into  one  company,  under  the  title  of  the  "Lehigh 
Navigation  and  Coal  Company,"  provided  the  additional  sum  of  $20,000 
was  subscribed  to  the  stock  by  a  given  date.  Of  this  sum  nearly  three- 
fifths  were  subscribed  by  White  and  Hazard.  With  this  aid  the  navi- 
gation works  were  repaired,  and  365  tons  of  coal  sent  to  Philadelphia  as 


77 


Pcniisyl-rania  and  Its  Manifold  .Ictivitics 

the  tirst  fruits  of  ilic  enterprise.  'I'liis  (juaiitity  of  coal  completely  stocked 
the  market,  and  was  with  difficulty  disjjosed  of  in  the  year  1820.  No 
anthracite  coal  came  to  market  from  any  other  source  than  the  Lehigh 
before  the  year  1825.  as  a  regular  business. 

In   the  early  days  coal   was  brought   to    Philadelphia   in   what   were 
termed  "arks" — s(juare  timl)er  boxes  from  sixteen  to  eighteen  feet  wide 


LOCK    IN    THE    LEHIGH    CANA 


and  from  twenty  to  twenty-five  feet  long.  These  boats  made  but  one 
trip.  When  they  reached  Philadelphia,  and  had  been  unloaded,  they 
were  broken  up  and  the  timber  sold,  the  spikes,  hinges  and  other  hardware 
being  returned  to  ATauch  Chunk,  a  distance  of  80  miles.  P^or  two  or 
three  years  the  hands  employed  on  these  rude  boats  made  the  return  trip 
to  the  mines  afoot.  Later,  rough  wagons  were  placed  on  the  road  by 
tavernkeepers,  to  carry  them  at  low  fares.  Boats  of  this  sort  were  used 
until  the  end  of  the  year  1831,  when  the  Delaware  Division  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania Canal,  built  by  the  State  as  a  division  of  the  public  works,  was 
partly  finished.  In  the  last  year  of  this  period  40,966  tons  were  thus 
floated  down,  requiring  so  many  boats  that,  if  placed  in  one  line,  they 
would  have  extended  more  than  thirteen  miles. 

The  Lehigh  slackwater  navigation  from  Mauch  Chunk  to  Easton 
was  opened  for  use  at  the  close  o{  June,  1829,  while  the  Delaware 
Division  was  not  regularly  navigable  until  nearly  three  years  afterward. 
The  want  of  improvement  of  the  Delaware  Division,  after  the  Lehigh 


A   Sun'ivor   of  the   Caital-Railroad    War 

was  completed,  caused  the  failure  of  several  dividends  to  the  Lehigh 
Company.  This  was  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  company  was  obliged  to 
continue  the  use  of  temporary  boats,  which  were  very  expensively  moved 
on  the  Lehigh  navigation,  but  which  were  the  onl\-  kind  that  could  be  used 
on  the  Delaware  River.  To  this  fact,  too,  is  attributable  a  very  rapid 
advance  made  by  the  Schuylkill  coal  interests  in  this  |)erio(l.     The  atten- 


■Jifc.',*^. 


r^^ 


EVOLUTION     OF    TRANSPORTATION     IN     FOUR     STAGES  :      I.    JUNIATA     RIVER,     WITH 
ROWBOAT.      2.    PENNSYLVANIA    STATE    CANAL,    WITH     BARGE.      3.    PENN- 
SYLVANIA   RAILROAD,    ORIGINAL    ROADBED.       4.    PENNSYLVANIA 
RAILROAD,     MODERN     ROADBED 

tion   of   persons   desiring   to   enter    into   the   coal    business   was    directed 
to  the  Schuylkill  region,  which  advanced  with  great  rapidity. 

In  the  spring  of  1827  it  was  decided  that  the  company  was  strong 
enough  to  begin  to  prosecute  the  ascending  navigation.  A  ditficult  point 
to  decide  was  the  size  of  the  canal.  Engineers  who  had  written  on  the 
subject  in  England  and  America  recommended  an  improvement  to  carry 
boats  of  25-ton  capacity.  The  acting  managers  at  Alauch  Chunk,  White 
and  Hazard,  on  the  other  hand,  contended  for  an  improvement  that 
would  accommodate  boats  of  130  to  150  tons  burden.  It  was  their  con- 
tention that,  as  the  Lehigh  and  the  Delaware  "afforded  plenty  of  water 
for  a  navigation  of  the  largest  class,  it  would  be  suicide  to  permanently 
deprive  the  company  and  the  public  of  the  very  best  application  of  the 
means   nature  had   afforded   them."     The   debate   on    this   question   was 


79 


Peniisxl'i'auia  and  Jts  Manifold  Activities 

waged  for  an  entire  day,  and,  finally,  the  broad-minded  policy  of  the  man- 
agers prevailed  to  the  extent  that  it  was  decided  that  the  locks  should 
conform  to  the  size  of  "the  Chesapeake  and  Delaware  Canal,  22  feet 
wide,  100  feet  long,  and  5  feet  depth  of  water,  with  a  width  of  canal  at 
bottom  of  45  feet." 

How  far  the  early  managers  were  in  advance  of  their  day  is  shown 
by  the  absorbing  little  volume  that  deals  with  this  great  enterprise,  "Josiah 
White's  History  Given  by  Himself." 

Mr.  White  says,  "The  truth  is,  if  we  had  adopted  the  old  plan  of 
locks  of  low  lift,  the  work,  when  done,  would  be  too  tedious  in  passing 
the  locks  to  be  of  any  value  to  our  company  or  to  the  public.  And  we 
have  now  lived  to  see  the  day  that  the  public  and  engineers  are  as  much 
opposed  to  small  canals  and  small  locks  as  they  were  at  the  beginning  of 
our  canal  opposed  to  large  canals  and  locks.  And  the  rival  companies 
(Schuylkill  and  others)  are  making  their  canals  and  locks  over  again  to 
get  them  large,  so  as  to  meet  our  rivalship  and  that  of  the  railroad." 

The  Lehigh  Coal  and  Navigation  Canal  as  it  is  to-day  is  best 
described  by  the  following  figures : 

r  Lehigh    Division    ....;....  46  miles.  50  locks 

Route     of     canals— Mauchj  Delaware  Division    60  miles.  25  locks 

Chunk     to     Bristol,     viaS  _ 

Easton   |      Total     106  miles.  75  locks 

^      ,       J.  ,  I  Ixhigh    Division    6  feet  average 

Depth   of   canals    |  Delaware   Division 6  feet  average 

Width  of  canals       (Lehigh   Division    63  feet  at  water  line 

(  Delaware  Division    43  feet  at  water  line 

Depth  of  locks  Lehigh   and   Delaware   divisions    6  feet 

Width  of  locks /  Lehigh    Div-ision     22  feet 

i  Delaware    Division     11   feet  and  22  teet 

Length  of  locks Lehigh  and   Delaware   Divisions    90  feet 

Number  of  boats  belonging  to  Lehigh  Coal  and  Navigation  Company 187 

Number  of  boats  belonging  to  individuals   20 

Size  of  boats    Length,  87   feet;  beam,   10  feet  6  inches;   depth, 

6  feet  9  inches. 

Capacity  of  boats   100  gross  tons. 

(  1910  1911 

)  Tons  of 

Tonnage   '    Anth.   Coal    323,800    320,000 

i  Tons  of 

(  Bit.  Coal  and  miscellaneous  .  . .   32,250      37.900 

The  canal  terminal  on  the  Delaware  is  at  Bristol,  18  miles 
above  Philadelphia.     The  elevations  from  which  the  canal-boats  must  be 

80 


A  Surrn'or  of  the  Canal-Railroad   JVar 

lowered  lliroiigii  75  locks,  and  to  which  they  must  he  raised,  are:  Mauch 
Chunk,  531  feet;  Bethlehem,  235  feet;  Easton,  217  feet;  New  Hope,  48 
feet;  Bristol,   18  feet. 

The  following  lines,  steam  and  electric,  touch  the  canal :  Central 
Railroad  of  New  Jersey  and  the  Lehigh  Valley  Railroad  from  Mauch 
Chunk  to  Easton,  Chestnut  Ridge  Railroad,  Lehigh  and  New   England 


PENNSYLVANIA    RAILKOAH    CnMPANY.       THE    ORIGINAL    LOCC  1M(  )TIVE    "JOHN    BULL 

AND    TRAIN,    183I.      BUILT    IN    ENGLAND,    BY    STEPHENSON    &    CO.,    FOR 

THE    CAMDEN    AND    AMBOY    RAICROAD    COMPANY 


Railroad,  Philadelphia  and  Reading  Railway,  Pennsylvania  Railroad,  and 
the  Easton  and  Doylestown  trolley. 

That  this  canal,  despite  its  proximity  to  these  roads,  despite  its  lim- 
ited dimensions,  despite  its  75  locks  and  its  maximum  elevation  of  531 
feet,  cannot  even  to-day  be  considered  moribund  is  shown  by  its  recent 
history.  Li  the  year  1907  a  careful  and  systematic  investigation  of  the 
problems  of  canal  traction,  with  a  view  to  the  ultimate  substitution  of 
mechanical  for  animal  towage,  was  carried  on  upon  a  practical  scale ;  the 
conclusion  being  that  an  expenditure  for  this  purpose  will  be  abundantly 
justified  with  an  annual  traffic  of  450,000  to  500,000  tons,  to  which  point 
it  is  thought  probable  that  the  business  of  the  canal  can  be  developed. 
A  stretch  of  the  canal  has  been  equipped  with  electric  towage,  and 
experiments  have  also  been  made  with  producer-gas  canal  tugs.  In  the 
vear  ^910  there  were  built  and  put  into  service  35  new  boats.  Modern 
terminals  for  the  storage  of  anthracite  coal  have  been  constructed  on 
the  Delaware  River  front,  Philadelphia. 


81 


Peinisyl-c'aJiia  and  Its  Manifold  Activities 

Calculatidiis  hascd  updn  the  cost  of  transi)orting  coal  from  the  com- 
pan}''s  mines  show  that  tlhs  narrow  gauge,  freshet-menaced  canal  may 
still  be  profitably  operated.  And  it  has  been  more  than  once  a  thorn  in  the 
side  of  that  triumphant  foe  of  the  early  canals — the  railroad.  When, 
some  time  since,  it  made  a  favorable  rate  on  sugar  into  Easton,  that  rate 
was  met  so  that  the  sugar  would  move  by  rail.  Notwithstanding  such 
difficulties,  it  has,  in  recent  years,  slowly  but  surely  increased  its  tonnage. 

The  Ninety-first  Annual  Report  of  the  Board  of  Managers  for  the 
fiscal  year  ending  December  31,  191 1,  makes  the  following  showing  for 
the  canal :  "ilie  Delaware  Division  Canal  was  opened  for  navigation  on 
March  8,  191 1,  and  the  Lehigh  Canal,  March  29,  1911.  Both  canals 
were  closed  November  30,  191 1.  Heavy  rains  and  consequent  freshets 
during  June  and  August  last  caused  a  complete  suspension  of  boating  on 
the  Lehigh  Canal  for  nearly  a  month.  Notwithstanding  this  loss  of  time, 
there  were  moved  during  tlie  season  of  1911  a  total  of  361,070  tons,  of 
which  319,989  tons  were  anthracite  coal.     Tlie  total  tonnage  during  the 

1910  season  was  364,971  tons,  of  which  323,808  tons  were  anthracite  coal. 
"The  operating  results   for  both  canals   for  the  year   191 1    show   a 

satisfactory  comparison  with  that  of  the  year  1910.     The  net  revenue  in 

191 1  was  $32,897.98,  compared  with  $22,264.26  in   1910,  an  increase  of 
$10,633.72." 


82 


The  Pennsylvania  Railroad 

THERE  was  a  day  when  a  statue  perhaps  a  hundred  feet  in 
height,  which  bestrode  a  harbor  entrance,  was  classed  as  one  of 
the  seven  wonders  of  the  world.  What — as  compared  to  this— 
of  the  driving  of  tubes  of  steel  beneath  the  waters  of  a  modern  harbor, 
tubes  through  which  move  the  world's  finest  trains?  A  wonder  greater 
than  any  of  the  seven  has  been  raised  by  Pennsylvania  enterprise.  Austin 
Corbin  dreamed  of  tunnels  underneath  the  waters  of  New  York  harbor. 
x\lexander  Johnston  Cassatt,  backed  by  the  millions  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Railroad  and  with  a  courage  that  marked  him  as  the  first  of  American 
railway  presidents,  made  that  dream  a  reality. 

The  act  incorporating  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  was  passed  by  the 
Legislature  in  1846.  From  its  beginning,  the  company  has  kept  steadily  to 
the  front  in  the  march  of  American  railroad  improvement.  It  was  the  first 
to  use  steel  rails  in  1863,  to  use  Bessemer  steel  rails  in  1865,  to  use  the 
air-brake  in  1866,  the  track  tank  in  1872,  and  the  signal  block  system  in 
1873.  Its  history  from  the  beginning  has  been  one  of  constant  achieve- 
ment, crowned  bv  the  opening  of  its  tunnels  and  its  terminals  in  the  city 
of  New  York. 

The  Pennsylvania  has  been  termed  the  greatest  single  factor  in 
American  transportation  affairs.  Nearly  every  important  eastern  gateway 
into  or  out  of  a  territory  of  large  tonnage  supply  will  be  found  guarded 
by  a  Pennsylvania  Railroad  line.  The  system  east  of  Pittsburgh  may  well 
be  likened  to  a  river  into  which  flow  numerous  streams  of  traffic  swelling 
the  main  artery  to  Amazon  size  from  Harrisburg  to  New  York.  There 
are  dozens  of  these  feeders,  each  with  its  own  arms,  reaching  out  to  tap 
rich  sources  of  raw  material  or  their  product.  They  radiate  through  the 
territory  south  and  immediately  east  of  Pittsburgh ;  they  form  a  network 
of  tracks  north  of  the  main  line  between  Johnstown  and  Altoona,  and  send 
in  a  flood  of  traffic  from  the  south  at  Harrisburg  and  at  Philadelphia. 
This  takes  no  account  of  the  lines  reaching  up  to  the  lakes  and  occupying 
a  resourceful  region  in  northwest  Pennsylvania.  Neither  does  it  include 
the  occupation  of  Long  Island  by  the  Pennsylvania  and  the  gradual  spread 
of  Pennsylvania  influence  into  New  England. 

83 


Pcinisyl-c'aiiia  and  Its  Manifold  .Activities 

Taking  a  Pennsylvania  carload  to  average  30  tons,  it  would  require 
4,300,000  cars  to  move  at  one  time  the  1910  business,  or  twice  as  many 
freight  cars  as  jthere  are  in  existence  in  the  United  States. 

Once  in  every  ten  years  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  doubles  its  ton- 
nage and  adds  from  40  to  50  per  cent,  to  its  capacity.  The  Pennsylvania 
Company,  all  of  whose  $80,000,000  of  stock  is  owned  by  the  Pennsylvania 
Railroad  Company,  operates  a  great  railroad  system  west  of  Pittsburgh. 

Controlling  less  than  5  per  cent,  of  the  railroad  mileage  of  the 
United  States,  the  I'ennsylvania  moved,  in  1910,  27^/^  per  cent,  of  all  of 
the  revenue  freight  and  earned  13^  per  cent,  of  all  gross  revenues.  It 
owned  12  per  cent,  of  all  steam  locomotives,  not  quite  12  per  cent,  of 
all  freight  cars,  and  13  per  cent,  of  all  passenger  cars. 

Although  embracing  over  11,000  miles  of  line,  the  Pennsylvania  is 
operated  through  three  score  or  more  divisions,  covering  nearly  140 
separate  corporations  that  go  to  make  up  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad 
Company.  Many  of  these  divisions  turn  into  the  treasury  monthly 
revenues  that  will  equal  a  whole  year's  income  on  dozens  of  American 
railroads.  Train  movements  are  so  frequent  and  the  volume  of  traffic  so 
enormous  that  the  area  of  individual  supervision  is  limited,  in  main- 
tenance of  way  work  for  example,  to  twenty-five  miles,  whereas  the  same 
inspection  responsibility  on  a  western  or  southern  road  would  cover 
several  hundred  miles.  To  show  the  immense  earning  capacity  of  the 
three  grand  divisions  of  the  Pennsylvania,  their  receipts  for  1910  are 
contrasted  with  those  of  several  important  American  railroad  systems, 
as  follows : 

Mileage  Gross  Earnings 

Pennsylvania  Railroad  (East  Pennsylvania  Division)  .  .    1,340  $59,184,146 

Illinois  Central   4,451  $57,884,721 

Southern   Railway    ".650  57,294,508 

Louisville   and    Nashville    4,554  52,433,382 

Missouri    Pacific    6,775  53,019,137 

New  York,  New  Haven  and  Hartford   2,042  60.693,638 

Erie    2,227  51,830,720 

St.  Louis  and  San  Francisco   5,182  41,165,938 

The  New  York  tunnel  project  was  an  enterprise  without  precedent 
in  the  history  of  transportation.  The  river  tunnels  which  lead  to  the 
new  station  on  Manhattan  are,  all  told,  6.8  miles  long,  and  the  land  tunnels 
have  the  same  length. 

From  the  Bergen  Hill  portal  in  New  Jersey  to  the  Long  Island 
entrance  of  the  tminels  it  is  5.3  miles.     It  is  8.6  miles    from   Harrison, 

84 


The  PcnusyJviUiia  Railroad 

N.  J.,  to  the  station  in  New  York,  while  from  the  latter  i)oint  to  Jamaica 
the  distance  is  11.85  miles. 

The  maximum  capacity  in  trains  per  hour  is  1 14.  In  the  construction 
of  the  tunnels,  strength,  safety  and  permanency  were  considered  rather 
than  money  cost.  The  tunnels  or  tubes  consist  of  a  series  of  iron 
rings,    and    the    installation    of    every    ring    meant    an    advance    of    2y2 


AMI     TKAIX, 


'PENNSYLVANIA    SPECIAL,"    NEW    YORK    TO   CHICAGO    IN    l8   HOUR 


feet.  Eleven  segments  and  a  key-piece  at  the  top  complete  the  circum- 
ference, and  an  entire  ring  weighs  about  fifteen  tons.  The  cast-iron 
plates,  or  sections  of  the  ring,  have  flanges  at  right  angles  to  the  surface, 
and  it  is  through  these  that  the  successive  rings  are  held  together  with 
bolts.  The  record  progress  in  one  day  of  eight  hours  was  five  of  these 
rings,  or  125^  feet.  Hydraulic  rams,  placed  against  the  flanges  every 
few  inches  around  the  tube,  were  used  to  push  forward  the  194-ton 
shields  with  which  the  tunnels  were  bored.  After  the  tubes  had  been 
run  from  end  to  end  they  were  lined  with  22  inches  of  concrete. 

The  shields  in  the  north  tube  under  the  Hudson  River  met  on  Sep- 
tember 17,  1906.  The  accuracy  of  the  calculations  is  shown  by  the  fact 
that  though  each  had  traveled  3000  feet  through  a  river  bed,  the  meeting 


85 


Peniisylz'aiiia  and  Its  Manifold  .Ictivitics 

was  perfect.  The  shields  in  tlie  iowv  Hlast  River  tunnels  met  as  perfectly 
as  those  in  the  Hudson  River.  The  entire  work  of  construction  occu- 
pied nine  years  of  plapning  and  labor.  The  motive  power  used  in  the 
tunnels  is  exclusively  electric,  and  the  entire  equipment  of  the  trains  is  of 
steel.  P>v  the  use  of  electricity,  smoke  is  eliminated,  and  a  special  ven- 
tilating ])lant  keeps  the  tunnels  supplied  at  all  times  with  an  abundance  of 


THE    PENNSYLVANIA    STATION,    NEW    YORK 


fresh  air,  although  the  motion  of  the  passing  train  is  ordinarily  sut^cient 
to  give  complete  ventilation.  The  extraordinary  thickness  of  the  walls  of 
the  tubes  excludes  dampness. 

The  New  York  station,  which  completes  this  great  terminal  improve- 
ment, is  784  feet  long  and  430  feet  wide.  The  length  of  the  twenty-one 
standing  tracks  at  the  station  is  21,500  feet. 

The  total  cost  of  the  tunnel  extension  to  December  31,  1910,  as 
given  in  the  report  for  1910,  including  real  estate  not  permanently  required 
for  its  use,  and  conservatively  estimated  to  be  worth  between  seven  and 
eight  millions  of  dollars,  and  not  yet  disposed  of,  was  $112,965,415.52. 

Apart  from  its  activities  along  strict  railroad  lines,  the  Pennsylvania 
has  shown  a  progressiveness  that  well  entitles  it  to  its  name  as  the  leader 
among  American  railroads.     In  its  forestry  operations,  for  instance,  the 


86 


The  Pciinsylz'aiiia  Railroad 

management  has  been  in  line  with  the  conservation  policies  of  the  States 
and  the  Nation.  During  the  year  19 lo,  650  acres  of  idle  land  were  set  out 
in   hardwood   and   evergreen   seedling  trees   supplied   by    the   company's 


LOCOMOTIVE       I.AXCASTKk        AMI    TRAIN 


PENNSYLVANI\     R\IIM)\Ii     eOMP\N\      4000-H0RSFP0\\  h  R     EIKTRK      UKOMOTUE 

FOR    NEW    YORK    TERMINAL.       BUILT    BY    THE    WESTINGHOUSE    ELECTRIC 

AND    MANUFACTURING    COMPANY 


nursery  at  JMorrisville,  Pa.  Thirty-two  and  one-half  acres  of  land  are 
devoted  to  nursery  purposes,  which  afford  a  capacity  of  1,000,000  trees  a 
year.  The  total  output  of  the  company's  nursery  during  the  year  1910 
was  766,924  trees.  The  stock  on  hand  at  the  nursery  at  the  close  of  the 
year  was  nearly  1,500,000  forest  trees,  varying  in  age  from  eight  months 


87 


Pemisylvaiiia  a)td  Its  Manifold  .Ictic'ities 

to  four  years,  and  137,200  ornamental  plants.  Indicative  of  the  scope  of 
these  forestry  operations — the  largest  ever  undertaken  by  any  corporation 
— is  the   following  table   showing  planting  done   in   the   last   ten   years: 


[NTERIOR    OF    HUDSON    RIVER    TUXXEI.I 


;.\XSV[.V.\.\IA 


Years  Number  of  Trees  Planted 

190^ 13-610 

1903 43,364 

1904 223,656 

1905 597,165 

1906 801,625 

1907 448,226 

1908 300,530 

1909 1,054,010 

I9IO 617,338 

I9II 515,703 

Total  4,615,227 

With  a  view  to  beautifying  the  lawns  around  the  stations  and  unoccu- 
pied places  along  the  roadway,  much  attention  has  been  paid  to  the 
growing  of  ornamental  plants  and  trees  at  the  company's  nursery.  To 
save  much  of  the  time  required  to  grow  these  from  seed,  there  were 
imported  from  France  during  the  year  1910,  41,699  deciduous  ornamental 

88 


The  f'ciuisyliviiia  Railroad 

plants,  5480  coniferous  ornamental  trees,  and  107,935  coniferous  forest 
seedlings.  In  addition  to  growing  ornamental  shrubbery  and  trees  for  its 
future  requirements  of  ties  and  lumber,  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Com- 


^Niiii-*  I 


PENNSYLVANIA    RAILROAD    TUNXKLS    UNDER    THE    HUDSON    RIVER,    BERGEN     HILL 
PORTALS 

pany  has  established  two  large  tie  and  timber-treating  plants,  both  using 
the  pressure  treatment,  one  at  Mt.  Union  and  the  other  at  Greenwich 
Point,  Philadelphia.  These  plants  have  a  combined  capacity  per  year  of 
1,500,000  cross-ties  or  their  equivalent. 

Another  illustration  of  the  enterprise  of  the  road  is  its  experimental 
work  for  the  benefit  of  farmers.  The  Long  Island  Railroad  has  two 
experimental  farms,  which  have  been  in  operation  for  about  six  years. 
When  the  Long  Island  Railroad  established  its  first  demonstration  farm 
many  scoffed  at  the  idea,  and  termed  those  interested  in  the  enterprise 
"book  farmers."  They  said  it  was  impossible  to  grow  anything  on  the 
waste  land  chosen  for  the  experiment.  The  scoffing  changed  to  admiration 
when  in  two  years  the  Long  Island  had  succeeded  in  cultivating  success- 
fully 380  dififerent  varieties  of  plants. 

In  the   fall  of  1908  President  James  ]\IcCrea,  of  the  Pennsylvania 


89 


Pciuisxlz'aiiia  and  Its  Manifold  .Ictizitics 

Railroad,  made  a  trip  of  three  days  over  the  railroad  lines  on  the  Delaware- 
Maryland-Virginia  Peninsula.  He  saw  thousands  of  acres  of  this  section 
— a  rich  agricultural  district — idle,  with  the  adjoining  farms  flourishing, 
and  the  jjroducls  of  the  latter  in  great  demand  in  all  of  the  large  markets 
of  the  Middle  and  Eastern  States.  As  a  result  of  his  trip  a  farm  of  50 
acres  was  purchased  at  Bacon,  Del.,  on  the  Delaware  Railroad.    This  was 


FREIGHT    HAULING    THROUGH    THE    ALLEGHENIES,    PENNSYLVANIA    RAILROAD 

waste  land  covered  with  thicket,  the  purpose  being  to  test  what  could  be 
done  with  land  of  this  forbidding-  character.  Remarkable  results  were 
obtained  with  various  crops. 

This  work  is  based  upon  the  soundest  kind  of  railroad  policy.  It 
is  showing  what  results  may  be  obtained  by  intensive  farming  on  the  old 
lands  along  the  lines,  and  in  this  way  is  attracting  farmers  and  developing 
traffic.  These  secondary  branches  of  activity  are  but  a  part  of  the  broad, 
general  policy  which  has  given  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  its  high  place 
in  the  transportation  history  of  the  United  States. 

The  record  of  transportation  lines  owned  and  operated  by,  and  asso- 
ciated in  interest  with,  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  shows  that  out  of  a 
total  of  11,503.76  miles  of  lines,  the  length  of  lines  in  the  State  of  Pennsyl- 


90 


The  Pennsylvania  Railroad 

vania  is  4134.07.     The  length  of  lines  in  the  various  States  in  which  the 
system  operates  is  as  follows: 

LENGTH  OK  LINES— December  31,  IVll 

,., ^                                              Total  Miles  East  Total  Miles  West         -,-,,»••, 

STATES                                                 of  Pittsburgh  of  Pittsburgh  ToalM.les 

and  Erie  and  Erie  ^"  ^'"^^ 

Delaware    275.34  275.34 

District  of  Columbia   13.02  13.02 

Illinois    642.43  642.43 

Indiana    1,659.92  1,659.92 

Kentucky     4.07  4.07 

Maryland   601.90  601.90 

Michigan    439-99  439-99 

Missouri     30.78  30.78 

New  Jersey  780.17  780.17 

New  York  822.57  822.57 

Ohio    1,932-56  1,932-56 

Pennsylvania     3,734-20  399.87  4,i34-07 

Virginia    77-87  77-87 

West  Virginia    24.47  64.60  89.07 


Total  miles    6,329.54  5,1/422  11,503.76 

The  length  of  tracks  on  the  lines  east  and  west  of  Pittsburgh  and  Erie, 
December  31,  191 1,  was  as  follows:  First  track,  east,  6329.54;  west, 
5174.22;  total,  11,503.76.  Second  track,  east,  2113.36;  west,  1479.67; 
total,  3593.03.  Third  track,  east,  579.57;  west,  218.84;  total,  798.41. 
Fourth  track,  east,  498.10;  west,  120.93  ;  total,  619.03.  Company's  sidings, 
east,  5090.59;  west,  3631.68;  total,  8722.27.  Total  trackage  east  of  Pitts- 
burgh and  Erie,  14,611.16;  total  trackage  west  of  Pittsburgh  and  Erie, 
10,625.34.     Grand  total  of  trackage,  25,236.50  miles. 

The  expenditures  on  road  and  equipment  of  the  Pennsylvania  Rail- 
road Company  during  the  year  191 1  consisted  of  the  following: 

Additional  property  for  enlargement  and  improvement  of  the  freight 
station  facilities  at  Norristown,  Lancaster,  Harrisburg,  and  Uniontown, 
and  for  the  abolition  of  grade  crossings. 

Right  of  way  for  small  branch  lines  in  the  bituminous  coal  regions. 

Awards  under  right  of  way  condemnation  proceedings  on  the  Darby 
Creek  Low  Grade  Line  between  Philadelphia  and  Paoli,  and  purchase  of 
additional  right  of  way  between  Colonia  and  Waverly,  N.  J.,  the  eastern 
section  of  the  relief  line  between  Morrisville,  Pa.,  and  Newark,  N.  J. 

Considerable  progress  was  made  in  the  rebuilding  of  the  Cortlandt 
Street  Ferry,  New  York  City,  which  will  probably  be  completed  in  1912. 

The  new  four-track  elevated  line  and  passenger  station  at  Bristol,  Pa., 
were  completed  and  put  in  service,  and  all  main-line  grade  crossings  in 
that  city  eliminated. 

91 


Pciiiisylz'a)iia  and  Its  Manifold  .Ictivities 

The  Newark  Rapid  Transit  Line,  which  provides  a  frequent  muUii)le 
unit  electric  service  to  and  frotn  the  Hudson  Terminal,  Cortlandt  and 
Church  streets.  New  York,  via  Manhattan  Transfer  Station  to  Park  Place, 
Newark,  N.  J.,  was  completed  and  placed  in  operation  November  26,  191 1. 

The  construction  of  the  eastern  section  of  the  six-track  system 
between  Morrisville,  Pa.,  and  Newark,  N.  J.,  was  undertaken. 

Grade  crossings  at  Coatesville,  Christiana.  Jeannette.  Tratiford,  and 
at  Lambert  Street,  Pittsburgh,  were  abolished  by  the  construction  of 
undergrade  bridges. 

A  new  freight  transfer  station  was  constructed  at  Harrisburg  for 
the  purpose  of  facilitating  the  movement  of  merchandise  freight  and 
increasing  carloacling. 

Considerable  extensions  to  the  various  car  shops  and  additions  to 
the  tools  and  machinery  w^ere  made. 

Improvements  at  Greensburg,  including  a  new  passenger  station  and 
the  revision  of  grade  and  completion  of  the  four-track  system,  practically 
completed. 

The  change  of  grade  and  extension  of  the  track  facilities  in  West 
Brownsville  Yard,  to  reach  the  elevation  of  the  new  double-track  Monon- 
gahela  River  bridge  at  that  point,  were  begun.  Contracts  have  been 
awarded  for  the  construction  of  the  bridge,  to  replace  the  present  single- 
track  bridge. 

The  Northumberland  Classification  Yard  was  completed. 

The  construction  of  a  i6-span,  double-track  steel  bridge  over  the 
west  branch  of  the  Susquehanna  River  at  Montgomery  was  authorized 
and  begun. 

The  aggregate  expenditures  made  by  the  company  for  construction 
and  equipment  during  the  year  on  its  owned  lines  and  those  of  the 
Harrisburg,  Portsmouth,  Mt.  Joy  and  Lancaster  Railroad  Company  and 
United  New  Jersey  Railroad  and  Canal  Company,  operated  under  long- 
term  leases,  comprising  the  main  line  system  between  New  York  and 
Pittsburgh  (including  $599,363.01  on  account  of  water  supply  trust 
certificates),  were  $14,319,530.65. 

During  the  year  1912,  in  addition  to  that  carried  over  from  last 
year,  work  will  be  started  on  a  new  grain  elevator,  with  a  capacity  of 
1,000,000  bushels  at  Girard  Point  in  the  Port  of  Philadelphia,  and  con- 
crete bridges  will  be  constructed  over  the  Bush  and  Gunpowder  Rivers, 
on  the  Maryland  Division,  near  Baltimore,  Md. 


92 


Philadelphia  and  Reading  Railway  Company 

THE  discovery  of  anthracite  in  Schuylkill  County,  Pa.,  late  in  the 
eighteenth  century  and  the  subsequent  rapid  development  of  a 
market  therefor  was  the  beginning  of  the  present  system  of 
railroads  which  has  become  popularly  known  as  "The  Reading." 

The  Schuylkill  Canal,  which  was  commenced  in  1815  and  completed 
to  Mount  Carbon  in  1825,  carried  to  market  an  ever-increasing  amount 
of  anthracite  mined  in  Schuylkill  County  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Schuylkill 
River.  With  the  discovery  of  better  and  more  extensive  veins  at  some 
distance  from  the  canal,  it  became  necessary  to  devise  means  for  trans- 
porting the  anthracite  to  the  canal.  In  the  few  years  between  1827  and 
1833  a  number  of  companies  were  incorporated  to  build  railroads  from 
the  canal  to  the  mines,  among  them  being  the  Mount  Carbon  Railroad 
Company,  the  Little  Schuylkill  Navigation,  Railroad  and  Coal  Company, 
the  Schuylkill  Valley  Navigation  and  Railroad  Company,  the  Mount 
Carbon  and  Port  Carbon  Railroad  Company,  the  Mill  Creek  and  Mine 
Hill  Navigation  and  Railroad  Company,  and  the  Mine  Hill  and  Schuylkill 
Haven  Railroad  Company. 

The  Little  Schuylkill  Navigation,  Railroad  and  Coal  Company  was 
chartered  not  only  to  build  a  railroad  from  the  mines  near  Tamaqua 
down  to  the  canal  at  Port  Clinton,  but  was  also  empowered  to  continue 
its  line  to  the  Borough  of  Reading.  A  number  of  the  gentlemen  inter- 
ested in  the  construction  of  the  Little  Schuylkill  Navigation,  Railroad 
and  Coal  Company  conceived  the  idea  of  building  a  railroad  from  Phila- 
delphia to  Reading,  to  connect  there  with  the  Little  Schuylkill  Railroad, 
in  order  that  anthracite  and  other  products  could  be  transported  during 
the  winter  season  when  the  canal  was  closed  to  traffic.  Accordingly,  a 
bill  was  presented  to  the  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania  during  the  session 
of  1833  by  Elijah  F.  Pennypacker,  representative  from  Chester  County, 
incorporating  The  Philadelphia  and  Reading  Railroad  Company,  which 
was  authorized  to  build  a  railroad  from  Port  Richmond,  on  the  Delaware 
River,  north  of  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  to  a  connection  with  the  Little 
Schuylkill  Railroad  in  the  Borough  of  Reading.  The  act  of  incorporation 
was  approved  by  Governor  George  Wolf  on  April  4.  1833. 

93 


Pennsyh'ania  and  Its  Manifold  Activities 

The  stockholders  of  The  I'hiladelpliia  and  Reading  Railroad  Com- 
pany assembled  i  m  November  22,  1834,  and  elected  Elihu  Chauncey  as 
its  first  president.  The  Little  Schuylkill  Navigation,  Railroad  and  Coal 
Company,  being  unable  to  provide  the  necessary  funds  to  construct  its 
railroad  between  Port  Clinton  and  Reading,  by  an  act  of  the  Legislature 
approved  ^larch  31,  1837,  The  Philadelphia  and  Reading  Railroad  Com- 


PHILADELPHIA    AND   READING   RAILWAY   COMPANY  S   TERMINAL,   PORT    RICHMOND, 
PHILADELPHIA 

pany  was  given  the  right  to  extend  its  railroad  from  Reading  to  Mount 
Carbon,  using  the  route  between  Reading  and  Port  Clinton  previously 
granted  to  the  Little  Schuylkill  Railroad  Company,  which  had  consented 
to  the  relinquishment  of  its  right  thereto. 

The  Philadelphia  and  Reading  Railroad  was  opened  to  regular 
passenger  service  between  Reading  and  Pottstown  on  Tuesday,  May  i, 
1838;  between  Pottstown  and  Norristown  (Bridgeport)  on  July  16,  1838; 
between  Norristown  and  Philadelphia  on  December  9,  1839,  and  between 
Mount  Carbon  and  Reading  on  January  13,  1842.  The  railroad  was  then 
95  miles  in  length. 

William  F.  Emlen  was  elected  president  of  The  Philadelphia  and 
Reading  Railroad  Company  on  January  10,  1842,  to  succeed  Elihu 
Chauncey,  who  declined  a  re-election.  Mr.  Emlen  served  only  until 
January  9,  1843,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  John  Cryder.  During  Mr. 
Cryder's  administration  the  railroad  was  double-tracked  between  Phila- 
delphia and  Mount  Carbon.  Mr.  Cryder  was  succeeded  as  president  by 
John  Tucker,  who  directed  the  affairs  of  the  company  until  November  5, 
1856,  when  Robert  D.  Cullen,  who  represented  the  foreign  stockholders, 
was  sent  from  London  to  succeed  him.     On  Tanuary  i.  i8si.  The  Phila- 


94 


Philadelphia   and   Reading  Railzuay   Company 

(lelpliia  ami  Reading  Railroad  Ci)nipaiiy  purchased  from  the  Canal  Com- 
missioners of  Pennsylvania  that  portion  of  the  old  Philadelphia  and 
Columbia  Railroad,  about  three  miles  in  length,  extending  between  Bel- 
mont and  Broad  and  Vine  streets,  Philadelphia,  including  the  Columbia 
Bridge  over  the  Schuylkill  River.  During  Mr.  Tucker's  term  of  office, 
or  in  the  year  1853,  The  Philadelphia  and  Reading  Railroad  Company  also 


44-^^ 

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1^^^^^ 

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JSHV^.  ii 

EXPORT    PIER    G,    PORT    RICHMOND,    PHILADELPHIA,    PHILADELPHIA    AND    READING 
RAILWAY 

accjuired  the  Lebanon  X'alley  Railroad,  extending  from  Reading  to  Plarris- 
burg,  which  was  then  under  construction. 

In  the  }ear  1859  The  Philadelphia  and  Reading  Railroad  Company 
began  to  expand  its  system  by  acquiring,  either  by  purchase  or  through 
lease,  the  Philadelphia  and  Chester  Valley  Railroad,  the  Mount  Carbon 
and  Port  Carbon  Railroad,  the  Schuylkill  and  Susquehanna  Railroad,  and 
the  Allentown  Railroad. 

Robert  D.  Cullen  retired  as  president  of  The  Philadelphia  and 
Reading  Railroad  Company  on  January  9,  i860,  and  was  succeeded  by 
Asa  Whitney,  a  Philadelphia  manufacturer.  Mr.  Whitney  resigned  from 
office  on  July  15,  1861.  and  Charles  E.  Smith,  an  iron  manufacturer,  suc- 


95 


Pciuisxli'uniii  and  Its  Manifold  .Ictiz'itics 


96 


Pli  Had  dp  Ilia    and    Rcadiiu]   RaUwa\    Company 

ceeded  him.  During  Mr.  Smith's  administration  the  Rcachng  system  was 
further  extended  by  the  leasing  of  the  Mill  Creek  and  Mine  llill  Xavi- 
gation  and  Railroad,  the  Mahanoy  and  Broad  Mountain  Railroad,  the 
Mine  Hill  and  Schuylkill  Haven  Railroad,  the  East  Malianoy  Railroad, 
East  Pennsylvania  Railroad,  and  the  Little  Schuylkill  Navigation  and 
Railroad,  together  with  the  purchase  of  a  controlling  interest  in  the  Union 
Railroad,  the  Swatara  Railroad,  the  Good  Spring  Railroad,  the  Lorberry 
Creek  Railroad,  the  West  Reading  Railroad,  the  Port  Kennedy  Railroad, 
the  Reading  and  Columbia  Railroad,  and  the  Locust  Gap  Railroad,  most 
of  which  railroads  were  located  in  the  anthracite  region  of  Pennsylvania. 

Charles  E.  Smith,  whose  administration  covered  practically  the  entire 
civil-war  period,  retired  on  April  28,  1869,  on  account  of  ill  health,  and 
was  succeeded  by  his  nominee,  Franklin  B.  Gowen.  During  Mr.  Smith's 
administration  the  stock  of  The  Philadelphia  and  Reading  Railroad  Com- 
pany sold  in  Philadelphia  on  April  7,  1864,  at  the  highest  price  it  ever 
reached — namely,  $82^^   per   share. 

With  the  advent  of  Mr.  Gowen  came  a  period  of  greater  expansion 
for  the  company.  In  order  tO'  secure  and  hold  the  anthracite  tonnage, 
upon  which  the  life  of  The  Philadelphia  and  Reading  Railroad  Company 
at  that  time  depended,  Mr.  Gowen  conceived  the  idea  of  acquiring  sufficient 
of  the  anthracite  lands  to  accomplish  this  purpose.  This  step  was  neces- 
sary, for  the  railroad  companies  having  their  outlets  at  New  York  tide- 
water were  fast  encroaching  upon  the  territory  served  by  The  Phila- 
delphia and  Reading  Railroad.  These  companies  had  already  absorbed 
practically  all  the  available  anthracite  fields  in  the  Lehigh  and  Wyoming 
regions,  and  were  endeavoring  to  establish  themselves  in  the  Schuylkill 
region.  Li  order  to  carry  out  his  plans  Mr.  Gowen  succeeded  in  having 
the  Laurel  Run  Improvement  Company  incorporated  on  May  18,  1871, 
to  purchase  and  hold  the  coal  lands  as  they  were  acquired  from  time  to 
time.  The  name  of  that  company  was  changed  on  December  12,  1871, 
to  The  Philadelphia  and  Reading  Coal  and  Iron  Company.  In  1912  The 
Philadelphia  and  Reading  Coal  and  Iron  Company  owned  a  total  of 
171,386  acres  of  land  in  the  Schuylkill  anthracite  region,  of  which  97,642 
acres  were  known  to  be  underlaid  with  anthracite  coal.  It  was  at  first 
intended  that  the  coal  in  the  lands  owned  by  The  Philadelphia  and  Reading 
Coal  and  Iron  Company  should  be  worked  by  individuals,  but  this  arrange- 
ment proved  so  unsatisfactory  to  all  concerned  that  the  coal  and  iron  com- 
pany was  finally  forced  to  operate  the  properties  itself. 

Such  a  tremendous  amount  of  money  had  been  invested  in  the  pur- 

97 


Pennsxlvania  and  Its  Manifold  Activities 


Philadelphia    and   Reading   Railieax    Coiiipanx 

chase  of  the  coal  lands,  from  which  no  immediate  adequate  return  was 
received,  that  The  Philadelphia  and  Reading  Railroad  Company  and  The 
Philadelphia  and  Reading  Coal  and  Iron  Company  were  forced  into  a 
receivership  on  May  24,  1880. 

At  the  annual  election  of  The  Philadelphia  and  Reading  Railroad 
Company,  held  on  March  14,  1881,  Franklin  B.  Gowen  was  defeated  for 
re-election  by  Frank  S.  Bond,  who  was  supported  by  the  foreign  stock- 
holders, but  at  the  annual  election  on  January  14,  1882,  Mr.  Gowen  again 
became  president  of  the  company.  Mr.  Gowen  declined  a  re-election  on 
January  14,  1884,  but  voted,  in  favor  of  his  nominee,  George  de  B.  Keim, 
the  proxies  of  the  stockholders  that  controlled  the  meeting.  On  January 
II,  1886,  Mr.  Gowen  again  became  president  of  the  company,  and  devoted 
his  time  almost  entirely  to  the  preparation  of  a  plan  of  reorganization. 
He  retired  on  September  22,  1886. 

During  Mr.  Gowen's  administration  the  Philadelphia,  Germantown 
and  Norristown  Railroad,  the  Schuylkill  Navigation,  the  Delaware  and 
Bound  Brook  Railroad,  the  Catawissa  Railroad,  the  North  Pennsylvania 
Railroad,  and  the  Atlantic  City  Railroad  were  taken  into  the  Reading 
system,  either  by  lease  or  through  stock  ownership. 

Under  the  receivership  begun  on  May  24,  1880,  the  property  was 
restored  to  the  company  on  February  28,  1883.  Scarcely  had  the 
receivership  of  1880  been  concluded  before  a  second  receivership  was 
begun  on  June  2,  1884.  Under  this  second  receivership  the  property  was 
restored  to  the  company  on  January  2,  1888,  and  the  receivers  discharged 
December  14,  1888. 

The  policy  adopted  by  Mr.  Gowen  in  his  management  of  The  Phila- 
delphia and  Reading  Railroad  Company  had  affected  its  financial  situa- 
tion to  such  an  extent  that  the  credit  of  the  whole  system  was  entirely 
dependent  upon  the  success  or  failure  of  this  policy. 

From  the  viewpoint  of  the  security-holders  and  stockholders  of 
The  Philadelphia  and  Reading  Railroad  Company,  who  were  deprived 
of  income  and  dividends,  and  wdiose  securities  sold  at  very  low  prices 
for  many  years,  and  who  were  obliged  to  pay  assessments,  the  Reading 
enterprise,  as  projected  by  Mr.  Gowen,  did  not  succeed ;  but,  viewed  as 
an  enterprise  per  se,  a  different  conclusion  may  be  reached  when  it  is 
stated  that  in  all  the  financial  difificulties  through  which  the  property 
passed,  embracing  several  reorganizations,  and,  finally,  foreclosure  pro- 
ceedings which  destroyed  the  original  charter  of  the  company,  all  of  the 
property  that  ]\Ir.  Gowen  brought  together,  including  the  various  leases 


99 


Pennsylvania  and  Its  Manifold  Activities 

and  acquisitions  l)y  wliich  the  railroad  lines  were  extended  and  terminals 
were  obtainc<K  and  all  of  the  coal  lands  originally  acquired,  has  been 
kept  intact. 

During  the  incumbency  of  both  Mr.  Bond  and  Mr.  Keim  the  prop- 
erty was  in  the  hands  of  receivers. 

Austin  Corbin  was  elected  president  of  The  Pliiladelphia  and  Reading 


wpjpi 

BBval^BEHi^HJH 

m 

COAL   TIPPLE   AT    HEAD   OF   SHAFT,    ANTHRACITE 
COAL    BREAKER 


Railroad  Company  on  September  22,  1886,  but  as  the  property  was  still 
in  the  hands  of  receivers,  his  labors  consisted  mainly  in  assisting  in  the 
work  of  rehabilitating  the  finances  of  the  company.  Mr.  Corbin  retired 
on  June  27,  1890,  and  was  succeeded  by  A.  A.  McLeod  as  president. 

Air.  McLeod  entered  upon  a  policy  of  expansion  of  the  company 
into  new  territory.  He  obtained  leases  of  the  Lehigh  Valley  Railroad 
and  the  Central  Railroad  of  New  Jersey,  and  acquired  a  controlling 
interest  in  the  Boston  and  Maine  Railroad  and  the  New  York  and  New 
England  Railroad,   but  the   resources  of   the   Reading   system   were   not 


Philadelphia   and   Read  in  c;   Raikvay    Company 

sufficient  to  finance  his  plans  for  the  consohdation  of  the  various  lines 
under  his  control  into  one  vast  system.  W  hile  the  net  earnings  of  the 
company  after  the  receivership  ended,  in  1888,  had  grown,  yet  they  were 
not  sufficient  to  enable  the  company,  without  danger,  to  pay  the  interest 
upon  the  preferred  income  bonds  wliich  had  been  issued  under  the 
reorganization  ;  and  the  attemi)t  to  pay  this  interest  and  the  obligations 


ANTHRACITE    COAL    BRKAKl 


OF    CULM,    PLYMOUTH,    PA. 


assumed  under  the  leases  of  the  Lehigh  A'alley  Railroad  and  the  Central 
Railroad  of  New  Jersey  so  reduced  the  company's  resources  that  it 
became  necessary  on  February  20,  1893,  to  have  receivers  again  appointed. 
Mr.  McLeod  was  succeeded  as  president  of  The  Philadelphia  and 
Reading  Railroad  Company  on  May  i,  1893,  by  Joseph  S.  Harris. 
Mr.  Harris  was  chosen  for  this  position  because  of  his  wide  experience 
in  the  management  of  railroad  and  coal  properties,  and  his  conservative 
management  of  the  Reading  properties  during  the  many  years  they  were 
under  his  charge  amply  justified  the  wisdom  of  his  selection.  The  prop- 
erty w^as  in  bad  physical  condition,  the  equipment  inadequate,  and  the 
company  bankrupt,  and  for  nearly  four  years  Mr.  Harris  and  his  col- 
leagues toiled  to  bring  the  company  out  of  its  chaotic  condition  without 


Pciiiisylz-a)iia  and  Its  Manifold  Activities 

resorting  to  a  sheriff's  sale.  Finally,  it  became  apparent  that  the  only 
hope  for  the  salvation  and  reconstruction  of  the  property  lay  in  a  complete 
and  vigorous  reorganization,  which  included  the  raising  of  sufficient  new 
capital  by  the  junior  security-holders  to  pay  off  the  pressing  obligations 
of  the  company.  This  could  only  be  accomplished  through  a  sale  of  the 
property  under  foreclosure  of  the  general  mortgage.  A  comprehensive 
plan  of  reorganization,  dated  December  14,  1895,  was  formulated  and 
carried  into  effect,  and  on  September  23,  1896,  the  property  of  The 
Philadelphia  and  Reading  Railroad  Company  was  sold  by  the  sheriff. 
The  property  was  purchased  by  Messrs.  Charles  H.  Coster  and  Francis 
Lynde  Stetson,  who  immediately  transferred  the  railroad  to  a  new  com- 
pany that  had  been  organized  for  the  purpose,  called  the  Philadelphia  and 
Reading  Railway  Company.  All  the  other  property  and  assets  of  The 
Philadelphia  and  Reading  Railroad  Company  were  transferred  to  Reading 
Company,  a  proprietary  company,  which  also  became  owner  of  the  stock 
of  The  Philadelphia  and  Reading  Coal  and  Iron  Company  and  of  the 
stock  of  the  newly  organized  Philadelphia  and  Reading  Railway  Company. 
The  rehabilitation  of  the  property  of  the  Reading  system  was  begun  imme- 
diately and  continued  until  to-day  it  is  placed  among  the  best-equipped 
and  most  carefully  managed  railroad  properties  of  the  country. 

Air.  Harris  retired  from  the  presidency  of  the  Philadelphia  and  Read- 
ing Railway  Company  on  April  3,  1901,  to  be  succeeded  by  George  F. 
Baer,  the  present  incumbent. 

The  following  statement  well  illustrates  the  tremendous  strides  that 
have  been  taken  by  the  Philadelphia  and  Reading  Railway  Company 
during  the  period  from  1843,  the  first  complete  year  of  operation  of  the 
railroad,  to  June  30,  191 1  : 


Year  Gross  1 


Anthracite                           Merchandise  Length  of 

Tonnage                                Tonnage  Railroad 

1843 $394,318        218,711         17,534  95 

1850 2,363,958       1,351,507         63,625  95 

i860 3,312,546       1,878,156        423,523  152 

1870 9,571,367       3,311,009.       1,754,943  392 

1880 16,938,885                  6,891,341                  5,144,044  540 

1890 20,934,487                 8,333,218                 9,666,827  670 

1900 26,902,987                10,672,556                14,192,019  1,000 

1910 45,428,083                10,929,612                23,260,452  1,022 

1911 45,663,660                11,675405                22,284,179  1,014' 

The  Philadelphia  and  Reading  Railway  Company  had  in  service  on 
June  30,  191 1,  the  following  equipment:  1026  locomotives,  852  passenger 

■  In    addition    to    tliis    mileage,    Reading   Company,   the   proprietary  company, 

cnntrolled     1127  additional  miles  of  railroad,  thus  making  the  length  of  railroads  in 
191 1  in  the  Reading  system  2141  miles. 

102 


Philadelphia   and   Reading   Raiha'oy    Company 

anil  baggage  coaches.  41. gi-'  freight  cars,  938  cars  in  company's  service, 
and  a  t1eet  of  128  vessels. 

Among  a  number  of  im])ortant  improvements  made  by  the  Phila- 
delphia and  Reading  Railway  Company  during  the  past  few  years,  the 
elevation  of  the  tracks  of  the  company  on  Ninth  Street  and  on  the  Rich- 
mond branch.  Philadelphia,  may  be  considered  the  most  important.    Many 


READING    IRON    WORKS,    READIXC.    I'\ 

millions  of  dollars  are  being  spent  in  this  work,  and  the  elevation  of  the 
tracks  on  the  Ninth  Street  section  of  the  work  has  been  completed  without 
interruption  to  the  passage  of  the  nearly  four  hundred  passenger  trains 
and  a  large  number  of  shifting  engines  with  empty  cars  or  with  freight 
trains,  which  used  that  stretch  of  track  daily. 

The  Philadelphia  and  Reading  Railway  Company  operates  at  Port 
Richmond.  Philadelphia,  the  most  extensive  shipping  terminal  in  the 
world  conducted  under  the  ownership  of  any  one  railroad  or  transporta- 
tion svstem.  The  shipping  terminal  covers  an  area  of  about  156  acres, 
and  the  railroad  tracks  thereon  have  a  storage  capacity  for  about  4000 
cars  without  congesting  or  interfering  in  any  way  with  the  movement  of 
traffic  on  the  main  or  working  tracks. 

There  were  shipped  from  the  Port  Richmond  Coal  Piers  during  the 
calendar  year  191 1,  1,931,190  tons  of  anthracite  coal,  2,448,069  tons  of 
bituminous  coal,  and  1442  tons  of  coke. 


103 


Pellllsylz^allia  and  Its  Manifold  Actiz'itics 

There  were  handled  over  Export  Piers  A,  C,  and  D  and  l*>eight 
Piers  G,  II,  and  J  ihn-int;-  the  calendar  year  1911,  758,089  tons  of  export 
package  freight  and  miscellaneous  freight,  with  a  total  of  2,970,753  tons 
of  merchandise  and  iron  ore  handled  during  that  period,  inhound  and 
outbound. 

Operating  from   Port  Richmond  is  a  harljor  fleet  consisting  of  four 


VIEW  OF  THE      STRIPPING      OF  AN   ANTHRACITE  COAL   MINE 

Steam  tugs  and  thirty-two  car-floats.  Each  car-float  has  a  capacity  for 
eight  8-wheel  cars,  with  an  aggregate  freight  transfer  capacity  of  400 
tons  each  trip.  This  fleet  is  engaged  in  the  movement  of  freight  between 
the  various  wharves  of  the  company  located  on  both  sides  of  the  Dela- 
ware River  in  the  Philadelphia  harbor.  During  the  year  ended  Decem- 
ber 31,  191 1,  this  fleet  transported  98,417  loaded  8-wheel  cars  having  an 
aggregate  tonnage  of  2,490,950  tons. 

In  addition  to  this  harbor  fleet,  the  Philadelphia  and  Reading  Railway 
Company,  under  the  trade  name  of  the  Philadelphia  and  Reading  Trans- 
portation Line,  operates  from  Port  Richmond  eleven  sea-going  tugs  of 
from  400  to  644  gross  registered  tons,  with  1000  individual  horsepower 
each,  together  with  sixt\-three  sea-going  schooner  barges  of  the  average 


104 


PhUadclphia   ami   Reading   Railway    Coiiil^aiiy 

carrvini;"  caj^acity  of  1508  tons  each.  During-  the  calendar  year  1911  this 
fleet  transported  1,711,886  tons  of  anthracite  and  bituminous  coal  from 
Port  Richmond  to  ports  in  New  England.  One  additional  tug  and  ten 
additional  barges  are  under  construction,  and  will  be  added  to  the  fleet 
upon  their  completion.  The  fleet  will  then  have  a  maximum  annual 
carrying  capacity  of  about  2,600,000  tons  of  coal  or  other  similar  cargoes. 

During  the  year  191 1  the  Philadelphia  and  Reading  Railway  Company 
completed  the  erection  at  Pier  14,  Port  Richmond,  of  an  extensive  power 
plant  and  two  modern-type  electrically  operated  ore-unloading-  machines. 
These  machines  have  a  combined  discharging  capacity  of  from  250  to 
300  tons  per  hour,  according  to  the  character  of  the  mineral  and  the  con- 
struction of  the  vessel  from  which  the  ore  is  being  discharged.  These 
were  first  put  in  operation  on  April  7,  191 1.  Prior  to  that  time  the  ore 
was  discharged  from  the  vessels  by  means  of  steam-hoisting  gear,  using 
ordinary  ore-discharging  tubs  of  the  capacity  of  about  2000  pounds  each. 
The  grab  buckets  of  the  electrically  operated  machinery  have  a  capacity 
of  about  10,000  pounds  each  lift.  Between  January  i  and  December  31, 
191 1,  894,509  tons  of  ore  were  discharged  from  vessels  at  the  Port  Rich- 
mond ore  piers  and  hauled  in  cars  to  various  steel  manufacturing  plants 
in  Pennsylvania. 

There  is  also  located  at  Port  Richmond  a  grain  elevator  having  a 
capacity  of  1,500,000  bushels.  This  elevator  is  equipped  with  all  modern 
appliances  and  facilities  for  cleaning,  drying,  and  improving  the  condition 
of  the  grain  stored  therein.  It  is  equipped  with  a  marine  leg,  having  a 
capacity  of  25,000  bushels  per  day  for  discharge  of  vessels  alongside  the 
elevator.  There  are  twenty-four  individual  elevators  operated  within 
the  main  elevator  structure,  and  thirty-six  scales,  so  as  to  provide  maxi- 
mum handling  of  all  kinds  and  grades  of  grain  received.  Two  hundred 
cars  of  grain  can  be  unloaded  and  stored  in  each  day  of  ten  hours,  and 
600,000  bushels  may  be  loaded  into  cars  or  vessels  in  the  same  period  of 
time.  By  means  of  a  Hess  grain  dryer  attached  to  the  main  elevator 
building,  20,000  bushels  of  grain  can  be  thoroughly  and  efficiently  dried 
in  a  day  of  ten  hours.  Ample  facilities  are  also  provided  for  mixing 
and  transferring  the  grain.  The  mixing  is  done  to  give  the  grain  a  better 
grade,  thereby  increasing  its  commercial  value,  while  the  transferring  is 
done  to  keep  the  grain  in  proper  condition  and  to  deliver  to  the  various 
bins  or  hatches  of  a  vessel  taking  on  cargoes  of  grain  at  the  elevator. 
Eight  million,  thirty  thousand  and  forty-two  bushels  of  grain  were  deliv- 
ered to  the  elevator  in  the  calendar  year  191 1  for  storage. 


105 


Poinsylvania  and  Its  Manifold  Activities 

In  addition  to  the  storage  capacity  for  cars  on  the  yard  tracks  at 
the  Port  Richmond  terminal  there  is  also  a  coal-storage  plant  located  at 
tliat  point,  with  a  storage  capacity  of  200,000  tons,  and  with  suitable 
machinery  for  handling  the  same.  In  addition  to  the  coal-storage  plant 
at  Port  Richmond.  The  Philadelphia  and  Reading  Coal  and  Iron  Com- 
pany has  similar  plants  at  several  other  points,  among  them  being  one 
near  Bridgeport,  Pa.,  with  a  capacity  of  480,000  tons;  one  at  Schuylkill 
Haven,  Pa.,  325,000  tons ;  one  near  Mahanoy  City,  Pa.,  200,000  tons ; 
Superior,  Wis.,  400,000  tons;  New  Bedford,  Mass.,  120,000  tons  ;  Chicago, 
111.,  160,000  tons;  Milwaukee,  Wis.,  170,000  tons. 

During  Mr.  Baer's  administration  the  Reading  system  has  become 
so  prosperous  that  dividends  are  being  regularly  paid,  although  the  stock- 
holders had  to  wait  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  for  this  condi- 
tion to  l)e  realized.  Great  prosperity  has  come  to  the  Reading  system 
though  the  general  increase  of  wealth  and  industrial  activity  of  the 
country ;  new  equipment  of  a  value  and  capacity  previously  unheard  of 
in  the  Reading  service  has  been  added  to  the  line ;  new  avenues  for 
business  have  been  opened  and  new  connections  made  that  in  the  olden 
days  of  the  company  had  never  been  dreamed  of.  This  great  prosperity  of 
the  Reading  system  is  not  due  solely  to  the  business  conditions  of  the 
country  at  large  or  to  natural  increase  in  the  business  of  the  company, 
but  in  a  great  measure  is  due  to  the  master  mind  of  its  president,  who 
has  displayed  such  great  constructive  ability,  wisdom,  and  forethought  in 
the  management  of  the  property  that  the  failures  of  the  past  have  become 
the  successes  of  the  present. 


106 


Other  Railroad  Lines 

IN  ADDITION  to  the  thousands  of  miles  of  track  of  its  two  greatest 
railroad  systems,  virtually  all  of  the  systems  whose  main  interests 
are  in  adjacent  States  reach  out  into  Pennsylvania's  territory  for 
tonnage.  In  the  northeastern  part  of  the  State  is  a  network  of  tracks 
by  which  the  anthracite  roads  tap  their  mines.  In  the  western  part  of 
the  State  are  numerous  lines,  a  large  part  of  whose  tonnage  is  the  iron 
ore  that  comes  down  the  Great  Lakes  intended  for  Pittsburgh.  But 
every  part  of  the  State  has  ample  rail  transportation  facilities,  and  every 
part    produces    extensive    tonnage. 

The  Lehigh  Valley  Railroad 

The  Lehigh  Valley  Railroad  is  one  of  the  most  important  of  the 
anthracite  roads  of  the  State.  Extending  from  the  harbor  of  New  York 
on  the  east,  it  enters  Pennsylvania's  territory  at  Easton,  extends  north- 
westerly to  the  State  line,  and  continues  on  to  Bufifalo.  Its  many  feeders 
reach  out  in  both  directions  from  the  main  trunk  to  take  the  product  of 
the  anthracite  mines.  Touching  the  Philadelphia  and  Reading  at  Bethle- 
hem, it  affords  to  the  city  of  Philadelphia  a  through  line  to  the  Great 
Lakes. 

The  Lehigh  Valley  was  chartered  April  21,  1846,  under  the  laws  of 
Pennsylvania,  as  the  Delaware,  Lehigh,  Schuylkill  and  Susquehanna 
Railroad  Company.  Its  present  title  was  taken  in  1853.  In  1864  it 
absorbed  the  Beaver  Aleadow  Railroad,  the  Penn  Haven  and  White 
Haven  Railroad,  in  1866  the  Lehigh  and  Mahanoy  Railroad,  in  1868  the 
Hazleton  Railroad  and  the  Lehigh,  Luzerne  Railroad.  It  controls  the 
Lehigh  Valley  Railroad  Company  of  New  Jersey,  the  Eastern  and 
Northern  Railroad,  the  Schuylkill  and  Lehigh  Valley  Railroad,  the  Dela- 
ware, Susquehanna  and  Schuylkill  Railroad,  the  Pennsylvania  and  New 
York  Canal  and  Railroad,  and  several  other  minor  companies  through 
ownership  of  their  capital  stocks,  and  has  control  of  still  other  properties 
by  lease.  An  important  part  of  its  controlled  property  is  the  Lehigh 
X'alley  Coal  Company,  and  it  has  also  the  Morris  Canal  and  Banking 
Company.     In  1892  the  Lehigh  \'alley  property  was  leased  to  the  Phila- 

107 


Pciuisyizaiiia  and  Its  Manifold  Activities 


io8 


Other  Railroad  Lines 

delpliia  and  Reading  Railroad  Company,  but  on  August  8,  1893,  this  lease 
was  abrogated  and  the  property  reverted  to  the  Lehigh. 

The  mileage  of  the  system,  including  owned  lines  or  lines  ccjulrolled 
by  ownership  of  entire  capital  stock,  is  1242  miles.  Its  main  line  from 
Phillipsburg,  N.  J.,  to  Wilkes-Barre,  Pa.,  is  99  miles,  and  the  distance 
from  Wilkes-Barre  to  the  State  line  is  96  miles,  so  that  in  traversing 
the  northeastern  section  of  the  State  the  main  stem  of  the  railroad  covers 
a  distance  of  195  miles.  The  distance  covered  between  Pennsylvania 
.State  line  and  Buffalo,  which  carries  the  system  to  the  traffic  of  the 
Great  Lakes,  is  175  miles. 

The  total  amount  of  rolling  stock  owned  by  the  company,  19TO,  was 
45.317,  of  which  874  were  locomotives.  The  freight  cars  numbered  44,158, 
by  which  it  will  be  seen  how  small  is  the  ratio  of  passenger  business  to 
the  profitable  freight  traffic  of  the  road.  The  total  receipts,  1910,  were 
$36,167,398,  and  the  net  income  $15,600,886,  which  was  the  largest  in  the 
history  of  the  property.  The  following  statement  shows  at  a  glance  the 
mileage,  equipment  and  general  balances  of  the  Lehigh  \  alley  Railroad 
Company  for  the  three  years  ending  1910: 

1908  1909  1910 

Miles  of  road  operated 1.445  i,44i  i,433 

Miles  of  track   3,228  3,241  3,261 

Miles  of  steel  rail 3,228  3,241  3,261 

Locomotives    885  873  874 

Cars     44,221  43,734  45,317 

Capital   stock    $40,441,100  $40,441,100  $40,441,100 

Total   assets    $158,010,851  $157,714,594  $160,928,250 

Through  its  ownership  of  the  entire  capital  stock  of  the  Lehigh 
V^alley  Coal  Company  and  other  minor  interests,  the  Lehigh  Valley  is 
the  owner  of  valuable  coal  properties  in  the  anthracite  region,  none  of 
which,  however,  are  directly  operated  by  the  railroad.  Its  profits  derived 
from  this  ownership  are  through  dividends  paid  by  the  respective  coal 
companies.  The  company  owns  bonds,  certificates  of  indebtedness,  and 
stocks  in  railroad,  coal,  transportation,  grain  elevator,  and  miscellaneous 
companies  of  a  total  par  value  of  $74,832,422. 

Delaware,  Lackawaxxa  and  Western 

Ranking  next  in  importance  in  so  far  as  interests  within  the  State 
of  Pennsylvania  are  concerned  is  the  Delaware,  Lackawanna  and  Western, 
which  also  cuts  diagonally  across  the  northeastern  section,  touching  the 
anthracite  territorv.    It  owns  the  extensive  anthracite  coal  lands  in  Lacka- 


109 


Ponisylz'aiiia  and  Its  Manifold  Acth'itics 

wanna  and  Luzerne  eounties.  By  its  charter,  granted  in  1849  under  the 
laws  of  Pennsylvania,  it  is  specially  empowered  to  own  coal  lands,  to 
mine.  i)urchasc,  transport,  and  engage  in  the  merchandising  of  coal.  A 
decision  rendered  by  the  United  States  Supreme  Court,  making  it  unlawful 
for  railroad  companies  to  transport  in  interstate  commerce  coal  owned  by 
themselves,  the  sales  division  of  the  coal  department  was  discontinued  in 
1909,  and  there  was  organized  under  the  laws  of  New  Jersey  a  coal-selling 
company,  known  as  the  Delaware,  Lackawanna  and  Western  Coal  Com- 
pany. Under  a  contract  made  with  this  new  company  the  railroad  agreed 
to  sell  its  coal  on  board  cars  at  the  mines  on  the  same  basis  as  generally 
prevails  in  the  anthracite  region,  and  also  to  sell  and  turn  over  all  stocks 
of  coal  along  its  lines  and  on  western  docks,  and  to  lease  its  trestles  to 
the  coal  company. 

From  the  T'eimsylvania  State  line  at  the  north,  the  Delaware,  Lacka- 
wanna and  Western  reaches  out  to  the  trade  of  the  Great  Lakes.  Its 
total  length  of  all  lines  owned,  leased,  or  controlled  December  31,  19 10, 
was  956  miles,  and  of  this  the  mileage  in  Pennsylvania  was  245.  The 
Pennsylvania  part  of  the  system  includes  the  main  line  for  a  distance  of 
113  miles;  Bangor  and  Portland  branch,  38  miles;  Hanover  and  Newport 
branch,  7  miles ;  Bloomsburg  branch,  80  miles,  and  New  York,  Lacka- 
wanna and  Western,  of  Pennsylvania,  6  miles.  The  rolling  stock  includes 
770  locomotives,  862  passenger  train  cars,  and  29,408  freight  and  service 
cars.  The  total  gross  earnings  for  the  year  19 10  were  $36,052,932.  The 
operations  of  the  coal  department  showed  sales  of  9,916,837  tons,  the 
receipts  being  $21,677,825.    The  total  assets  were  $81,785,733. 

Delaware  and  Hudson  Companv 

The  Delaware  and  Hudson  extends  in  Pennsylvania  from  Plymouth 
northward  to  the  State  line.  It  was  originally  chartered  in  1823  by  the 
New  York  Legislature  to  construct  a  canal  from  the  coal  fields  of  Penn- 
sylvania to  the  Hudson  River  at  Rondout.  The  canal  under  this  charter 
was  completed  in  1828,  and  in  the  following  year  a  gravity  railroad  was 
built.  The  present  name  was  taken  in  1829,  under  act  of  the  Legis- 
lature, the  company  being  authorized  at  the  same  time  to  sell  the  canal. 
This  sale  of. the  canal  was  efifected  in  1889,  and  later  the  gravity  railroad 
was  broadened  to  a  standard  gauge  steam  railroad  and  opened  for  passen- 
ger and  freight  business  in  1900.  On  June  i,  1909,  a  contract  was  made 
with  the  Hudson  Coal  Company,  under  which  the  coal  produced  from  the 


Other  Railroad  Lines 

mines  belonging  to  the  Delaware  and  ITndson  Comjiany  is  pnrcliased  at 
the  mines. 

The  rolling  stock  of  the  company  includes  447  locomotives,  475 
passenger  cars,  and  20,857  freight  cars.  Earnings  for  the  year  1910 
amounted  to  $20,431,800,  and  the  total  net  earnings  of  the  railroad  and 
coal  departments  were  $8,592,175. 

Erie  Railroad 
The  interests  of  the  Erie  Railroad  in  Pennsylvania  are  also  extensive. 
( )n  June  10,  1901,  the  company  purchased  the  entire  capital  stock. of  the 
Pennsylvania  Coal  Company,  and  the  Erie  and  Wyoming  Valley  Railroad 
Company.  It  is  thus  to-day  one  of  the  important  anthracite  railroads  of 
Pennsylvania. 

Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad 

The  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad  cuts  through  the  southwestern 
corner  of  the  State,  connecting  the  Lakes  with  Baltimore,  Md.,  through 
Pittsburgh.  Its  numerous  branch  lines  are  an  important  part  of  the 
transportation  facilities  of  this  part  of  the  State. 

The  Baltimore  and  Ohio  line,  connecting  Washington,  Baltimore, 
and  Philadelphia,  affonls  to  the  Philadelphia  and  Reading  an  outlet  to 
the  two  former  cities,  while  it  affords  to  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  access, 
over  the  Reading  line,  to  New  York. 

The  Ore  Roads 

Several  lines  transport  the  ore  of  the  Lake  Superior  ranges  from  the 
Great  Lakes  to  the  Pittsburgh  district.  The  Pittsburgh  and  Lake  Erie,  a 
controlled  line  of  the  New  York  Central  system,  extends  from  Pittsburgh 
to  Youngstown,  Ohio,  where  it  has  a  New  York  Central  connection  to 
Ashtabula.     This  road  is  operated  as  an  independent  system. 

The  Bessemer  and  Lake  Erie  Railroad  is  the  United  States  Steel 
connection  with  the  lakes.  The  line,  which  extends  from  Kremis  to 
Osgood,  Pa.,  and  which  was  chartered  January  i,  1901,  took  a  999-year 
lease  of  the  Pittsburgh,  Bessemer  and  Lake  Erie  Railroad.  The  Carnegie 
Steel  Company,  an  underlying  company  of  the  United  States  Steel  Cor- 
poration, owns  its  entire  capital  stock.  The  company  has  137  locomotives, 
45  passenger  cars,  and  9932  freight  cars.  Its  freight  earnings  in  1910 
were  $7,459,482.  This  road  carries  the  ore  of  the  United  States  Steel 
from  Conneaut  to  the  Carnegie  works  at  Pittsburgh. 


Pciiiisyl-raiiia  and  Its  Manifold  .Ictiiitics 

The  Cleveland  and  I'ittsburgh  Railroad  is  operated  under  lease  by 
the  Pennsylvania  Company.  Its  main  line  is  from  Rochester,  Pa.,  to 
Cleveland.  Ohio,  a  distance  of  123  miles,  and  it  has  trackage  rights  over 
the  Pittshurgh.  l-Ort  Wayne  and  Chicago  Railway,  another  leased  line 
of  the  Pennsylvania  Company,  from  Rochester  to  Pittsburgh,  a  distance 
of  25  miles. 

Pittsburgh  also  has  connection  with  Buffalo  by  lines  controlled  by 
the  Pennsylvania,  and  with  Ashtabula  over  Baltimore  and  Ohio  lines. 

The  P.uffalo.  Rochester  and  Pittsburgh  extends  direct  south  from 
Buffalo  to  Du  Bois,  Pa.,  where  it  reaches  out  to  the  eastward  to  Clearfield 
and  Williamsport,  and  to  the  westward  to  Pittsburgh  and  the  great 
tonnage-producing  district  of  New  Castle. 


The  Intracoastal  Canal  Chain 

IT  IS  less  than  five  years  since  public  attention  was  attracted  to  the 
feasibility  and  necessity  of  a  free  intracoastal  waterway,  to  extend 
from  New  England  on  the  north  to  the  Carolinas  on  the  south. 
Yet  so  powerfully  has  the  pul^lic  view  lieen  focused  u])on  this  important 
question  in  these  few  years,  that  already  recommendations  looking  toward 
a  continuous  chain  of  inland  waterways  have  been  made  to  Congress 
by  the  United  States  Corps  of  Engineers. 

Congestion  of  freights  in  the  States  touching  the  Atlantic  seaboard 
first  suggested  the  necessity  of  a  barge  route,  to  relieve  the  railroads  of 
the  heavier  classes  of  commodities.  The  tremendously  expanding  indus- 
trial activity  of  this  seaboard  tier  of  States  had  at  times  overtaxed  the 
carrying  capacity  of  the  railroads.  A  second  reason  for  the  improve- 
ment lay  in  the  peculiarly  dangerous  character  of  certain  parts  of  the 
Atlantic  Coast,  notably  Cape  Hatteras.  A  third  arose  from  the  exist- 
ence, over  a  large  part  of  the  proposed  route,  of  canals  of  restricted 
dimensions,  capable  of  passing  small  barge  traffic. 

Yet,  notwithstanding  the  fact  of  this  almost  continuous  inside  route, 
needing  only  improvement  to  be  available  for  barges  of  sufficient  size 
to  carry  traffic  economically,  this  great  opportunity  for  the  expansion 
of  commerce  throughout  the  seaboard  States  remained  neglected  until 
1907.  In  that  year  the  Atlantic  Deeper  Waterways  Association  was 
organized  in  Philadelphia,  with  the  purpose  of  arousing  the  cities  and 
States  of  the  East,  and  the  nation  at  large,  to  the  urgent  necessity  of  the 
development  of  a  canal  chain.  Congressman  J.  Hampton  Moore  was  the 
active,  vitalizing  force  in  the  new  movement. 

The  conference  which  resulted  in  the  formation  of  the  association 
began  its  sessions  in  Philadelphia,  November  19,  1907.  Mr.  Moore  was 
elected  president  of  the  association,  and  is  still  its  active  directing  head. 
Four  conferences  have  since  been  held  at  Baltimore,  Norfolk,  Provi- 
dence, and  Richmond,  with  the  result  that  public  interest  has  steadily 
increased  and  that  the  insistence  on  an  actual  beginning  of  operations 
has  become  steadily  greater. 

Prior  to  the  inception  of  this  movement,  which  is  the  more  impor- 

113 


Pciiiisvlvaiiia  and  Its  Manifold  Acthitics 


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\                                              \              /                                  BOSTON-BEAUFORT 

V     C     A   R     0     I.    ,     N     A           V J                                                                     SECTION 

1^                  J^                  UNITED    STATES     ENGINEER    CORPS    SURVEY 

_^^                                                                                    SCALE    OF    MILES 

Jl                                                                                       SO               0                50             100                              2  00 

114 


The  Iiitracoastal  Canal  Chain 

tant  because  it  marks  the  beginning  of  an  epocli.  etiforts  soniewliat  spas- 
modic in  their  nature  had  been  made  to  arouse  public  sentiment  to  the 
importance  of  modern  canalization.  Philadelphia,  in  the  nineties,  took  up 
the  question  of  the  decarlence  of  the  Delaware  and  Raritan  Canal,  which 
is  the  link  of  the  existing  chain  that  extends  across  the  State  of  New 
Jersey,  from  New  Brunswick  to  Bordentown.  Private  capital  had  turned 
its  attention  seriously  to  the  cutting  of  an  inside  waterway  across  Cape 
Cod. 

Efforts  had,  from  time  to  time,  been  made  to  obtain  Government 
action  looking  toward  the  acquirement  and  deepening  of  the  Chesapeake 
and  Delaware  Canal,  which,  both  geographically  and  tactically,  is  regarded 
as  the  pivot  of  the  proposed  waterways  chain.  The  construction  of  this 
canal,  which  connects  the  Delaware  River  and  Bay  with  the  Chesapeake, 
was  begun  in  1824.  The  route  is  from  Delaware  City,  on  the  east,  to 
Chesapeake  City,  on  the  west.  At  this  latter  point  the  canal  connects 
with  Back  Creek  and  the  Elk  River,  which  give  access  to  Chesapeake  Bay. 
Watc'-  was  run  into  the  canal  for  the  first  time  in  1829.  The  distance 
covered  is  i^^v;  miles.  The  canal  contains  three  locks,  each  220  feet  long 
by  24  feet  wide.  The  cut  is  36  feet  wide  at  the  bottom,  and  has  a 
depth  of  10  feet.  Of  the  total  amount  of  $2,250,000  raised  for  its  con- 
struction, one-fifth  was  contributed  by  the  United  States.  $100,000  by 
the  State  of  Pennsylvania.  $50,000  by  the  State  of  Maryland,  and  $25,000 
by  the  State  of  Delaware.  The  remainder  was  contributed  by  citizens 
of  these  three  States.  It  will  thus  be  seen  that  of  the  Commonwealths 
interested  in  this  early  canal  project,  Pennsylvania  bore  the  leading  part. 
and  even  at  that  day  the  importance  of  this  waterway  to  the  commercial 
interests  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania  was  evidently  clearly  appreciated. 

As  early  as  1871  a  national  commercial  convention,  held  in  IJalti- 
more.  inaugurated  a  movement  for  a  ship  canal  to  connect  the  two  bays. 
Surveys  were  made  by  the  direction  of  the  Secretary  of  War  in  1882. 
Twelve  years  later,  a  river  and  harbor  act  authorized  the  P'resident  to 
appoint  a  board  to  determine  the  most  feasible  route  for  the  construction 
of  a  ship  canal. 

Congress,  by  joint  resolution,  passed  in  1906.  createfl  a  commission 
to  appraise  the  works  and  franchises  of  the  Chesapeake  and  Delaware 
Canal.  The  report  of  this  commission,  made  to  the  Fifty-ninth  Congress, 
second  session,  favored  the  adoption  of  the  present  Chesapeake  and  Del- 
aware Canal  route.  Though  the  importance  of  this  undertaking  was 
made  clear  by  the  report  of  the  commission,   it   is  (|uite   likch-  that  no 


Pivnisyli'iiiiia  and  Its  Manifold  .Ictiiitics 

further  steps  would  lia\e  Ijeen  taken  for  years  to  come,  bad  it  not  been 
for  the  organization  of  the  Atlantic  Deeper  Waterways  Association  and 
the  work  of  education  which  in  the  last  five  years  has  been  so  aggressively 
prosecuted.  As  a  result  of  this  work,  provision  was  made  in  the  River 
and  Harbor  Act  of  March  3,  1909,  authorizing  the  Secretary  of  \\'ar  to 
cause  to  be  made  preliminary  examinations  and  surveys  for  the  entire 
canal  route,  from  Boston  southward. 

The  intracoastal  waterways,  as  proposed,  consist  of  the  following 
canal  routes :  Boston,  Mass.,  to  Narragansett  Bay ;  Narragansett  Bay  to 
Long  Island  Sound ;  New  York  Bay  to  Delaware  River ;  Delaware  River 
to  Chesapeake  Bay;  Norfolk,  Va.,  to  the  sounds  of  North  Carolina  and 
Beaufort  Inlet.  The  plans  contemplate  the  extension  of  these  waterways 
southward  and  westward  from  Beaufort  to  the  Rio  Grande,  and  surveys 
for  these  were  also  authorized. 

The  special  board  of  engineers  which  was  appointed  under  the  pro- 
visions of  the  act  of  March  3,  1907,  to  survey  the  proposed  canal  route, 
consisted  of  Col.  William  M.  Black,  Lieut.  Col.  Edw.  Burr,  Lieut.  Col. 
James  C.  Sanford,  Maj.  Joseph  E.  Kuhn,  and  Capt.  Lewis  H.  Rand. 
The  board  was  directed  to  perform  the  work  for  the  division  of  the 
waterway  from  Boston,  Mass.,  to  Beaufort  Inlet,  N.  C.  Cinder  date 
of  July  13,  1909,  Lieut.  Col.  Mason  AL  Patrick  was  substituted  for 
Maj.  Joseph  E.  Kuhn;  under  date  of  February  12,  1910,  Maj.  R.  R.  Ray- 
mond was  substituted  for  Capt.  Lewis  H.  Rand,  and  under  date  of  May 
31,  1910,  Col.  F.  V.  Abbot  was  substituted  for  Lieut.  Col.  Edw.  Burr, 
these  changes  having  been  necessitated  by  changes  of  stations  and  duties 
of  the  officers  concerned. 

Private  enterprise  had  already  begun  to  luake  the  canal  across  Cape 
Cod  when  this  board  was  appointed.  This  cut  is  a  short  connection  of 
8  miles  through  a  sandy  isthmus,  having  a  maximum  elevation  of  29  feet 
above  sea  level.  It  extends  from  Buzzard's  Bay  to  Cape  Cod  Bay.  At 
the  eastern  end  there  has  already  been  constructed  a  breakwater,  which 
contains  more  than  400,000  tons  of  granite,  to  protect  the  canal  against 
northeast  gales.  More  than  half  of  the  work  has  been  completed,  eight 
large  dredges  and  steam  shovels  being  used.  More  than  1000  acres  of 
land  have  been  purchased  for  manufacturing  sites,  while  a  railroad  is 
to  traverse  the  entire  length  of  the  cut,  thus  affording  land,  as  well  as 
water,  transportation.  This  cut  will  enable  ships  moving  southward 
from  Boston  to  other  Atlantic  ports  to  avoid  the  hazards  of  outside 
navigation   around   the   dangerous   southeast   New   England   coast.      The 


The  Iiifracoastal  Canal  Chain 


117 


Pciiiisylraiiia  and  Jts  Multifold  .Ictiiitics 

depth  is  to  be  25  feet,  the  mininuim  iKittoiii  wiiUh  100  feet  and  niiniiiiuni 
surface  wicUli  250  feel.  The  annual  toiniasj^e  tributary  to  tlie  canal  is  esti- 
mated at  25,000,000  tons. 

The  special  board  of  engineers  has  examined  all  jjracticable  routes 
in  the  New  England  section,  and  has  surveyed  two.  Hoth  of  these  start 
at  Narragansett  ]5ay.  one  entirely  inland  from  Taunton  to  Hingham, 
and  the  other  inland  from  Taunton  to  Plymouth,  and  thence  from  that 
point  30  miles  via  Massachusetts  Bay  to  Boston.  It  also  considered  the 
advisability  of  the  purchase  of  the  partly  comi)leted  Cape  Cod  Canal. 

Estimates  of  cost  were  made,  varying  from  $17,453,000  for  a  canal 
18  feet  dee]),  with  bottom  width  of  125  feet,  via  Taunton  to  Plymouth, 
to  $40,047,000  for  a  canal  25  feet  deep,  with  bottom  width  of  200  feet, 
via  Taunton  to  Hingham. 

It  was  the  oi)inion  of  the  board  that  there  appears  to  be  no  commer- 
cial necessit\  to  justify  the  construction  of  a  canal  over  either  of  these 
inland  routes.  Jt  was  further  the  belief  that  after  the  measure  of 
relief  to  commerce  to  be  aft'orded  by  the  Cape  Cod  Ship  Canal  has  been 
demonstrated,  the  question  of  a  need  for  a  completely  sheltered  water- 
way between  Narragansett  Bay  and  Boston  should  receive  further  con- 
sideration. It  was  not  deemed  advisable  for  the  Government  to  enter 
into  negotiations  with  a  view  to  the  acquisition  of  the  Cape  Cod  Canal. 

Examinations  and  surveys  were  also  made  of  the  Narragansett  Bay- 
Long  Island  Sound  section,  of  the  New  York  Bay-Delaware  River 
section,  of  the  Delaware  River-Chesapeake  Bay  section,  and  of  the 
Norfolk-Beaufort   section. 

As  to  the  Narragansett  Bay-Long  Island  Sound  section,  it  was  recom- 
mended In-  the  s])ecial  board  that  a  canal  18  feet  deep,  with  125  feet 
bottom  width,  terminating  at  Bissell's  Cove,  be  constructed,  at  an  esti- 
mated cost  of  $12,322,000.  However,  the  board  of  engineers  and  (ien- 
eral  Bixby,  chief  of  engineers,  failed  to  concur  in  this  recommendation. 

Over  the  New  York  Bay-Delaware  River  section  all  i)racticablc 
routes  were  examined,  and  the  feasible  routes  surveyed.  The  board 
considered  the  advisability  of  purchase  by  the  Government  of  the  present 
Delaware  and  Raritan  Canal,  but  decided  not  to  recommend  that  this 
step  be  taken. 

One  factor  in  the  ])roblem,  so  far  as  this  chain  in  the  route  is  con- 
cerned, is  the  action  already  taken  Iiy  the  State  of  New  Jersey  looking 
toward  a  free  waterway  across  the  State  to  connect  the  waters  of  New 
York  harbor  with  the  Delaware  River.     By  resolution  of  the  Legislature 

118 


The  Iiitracoastal  (.'cdujI  C'liai 


119 


Pciiiisyliaiiia  and  Its  MaiiifdUi  .Ictiiitics 

of   New   Jersey,    it   has    been   decided    to   ex])eii(l    a   sum    not   to  exceed 
$500,000  to  provide  a  riglit  of  way  for  the  canal. 

In  its  consideration  of  tliis  Hnk  in  the  chain,  the  board  proceeded 
upon  the  behef  that  should  a  canal  be  built  across  the  State  it  must  be 
so  located  as  to  cause  the  least  i)ossible  interference  between  land  and 
water  traffic.     It  i)ointe.d  out  that  a  vast  amount  of  railroad  traffic  passes 


LE.-\F  OF   THE   LOCK   GATES    FOR   THE   GATUN   LOCKS,   PANAMA   CANAL,    ASSEMBLED 

AT    THE     SHOPS     OF     THE     MCCLINTIC-MARSH.^LL    CONSTRUCTIO.X 

COMPANY.       PITTSBURGH    IS   SUPPLYING  80  PER  CENT. 

OF    THE    METAL    WORK    FOR    THE 

PANAMA    CANAL 


between  Philadelphia  and  New  York,  and  that  the  use  of  drawbridges 
has  become  virtually  impossible.  It  was.  therefore,  laid  down  by  the 
board  as  a  condition,  that  no  trunk-line  railroad  should  be  crossed  at 
grade — that  should  it  l,e  necessary  to  cross  a  trunk-line  railroad,  the 
crossing  be  made  at  a  point  wdiere  the  railroad  could  be  depressed  suffi- 
ciently to  pass  under  the  canal,  or  wdiere  the  railroad  could  be  elevated 
sufficiently  to  permit  the  construction  of  a  fixed  bridge  with  clear  height 
under  it  sufficient  for  all  classes  of  shipping  using  the  canal. 

The    board    recommended,    however,    that    the    construction    of    this 


I'lic  Intvacoastal  Canal  Cliaiii 

sectii)ii  of  the  canal  be  deferred  until  after  the  construction  of  the  two 
more  southerly  sections,  and  until  tlie  L'nited  States  plant  now  al  work- 
in  the  Panama  Canal  shall  be  made  available. 

A  committee  appointed  by  the  Atlantic  Deeper  Waterways  Associa- 
tion, and  which  strongly  advocated  the  construction  of  the  canal,  has 
l)redicted  that  it  will  at  the  outset  have  an  annual  traffic  of  5,250.000 
tons,  and  that  this  will  rapidly  increase. 

As  to  the  advisability  of  the  immediate  acquirement  and  deepening 
of  the  Chesapeake  and  Delaware  Canal,  there  was  a  common  opinion. 
The  special  board  selected  a  route  which  coincides  with  the  present  line 
of  the  Chesapeake  and  Delaware  Canal.  This  is  at  the  narrowest  part 
of  the  peninsula,  where  an  arm  of  Chesapeake  Bay  penetrates  to  about 
twelve  miles  from  the  Delaware.  The  board  recommends  the  purchase 
of  the  existing-  canal,  at  a  price  not  to  exceed  $2,514,289.70,  and  the 
construction  of  a  tide-level  canal  of  25  feet  depth  at  mean  low  water. 
The  construction  cost  will  be  $9,910,210,  making  a  total  initial  cost  of 
$12,424,500. 

The  board  gives  the  following  summary  of  statistics  under  the  plan 
as  prepared : 

Length  of  land  cut   miles. .  13.6 

Length  of  dredged  channel   in   Delaware   River do....  .9 

Length  of  dredged  channel  in  Back  Creek do.  ...  4.5 

Length  of  dredged  channel  in  Elk  River do. .  . .  8.5 

Length  of  dredged  channel  in   Chesapeake   Bay do....  lo.o 

Distance    from    Baltimore    to    entrance    to    Delaware    Bay    via 

Cape    Charles    miles . .  320.0 

Distance    from    Baltimore    to    entrance    to    Delaware    Bay   via 

canal    miles . .  1 36.0 

Saving  in  distance  from  Baltimore  to  common  point. .  .do. .. .  1840 

Saving  in  time  from  Baltimore  to  common  point hours.  .  16 

Depth  of  canal  at  lowest  low  water feet . .  25 

Width  of  canal  at  bottom  in  land  section do...  125 

Width  of  canal  at  bottom  in  Delaware  River do. .  .  600 

Width  of  canal  at  bottom   in   Back   Creek do...  125 

Width  of  canal  at  bottom  in   Elk  River do.  .  .  250 

Width  of  canal  at  bottom   in   Chesapeake  Ray do...  600 

Maximum  slope  in  canal  banks  above  water 1-2^/^ 

Side   slope   in   dredged   channel,   land   cut 1-2^ 

Side   slope   in    dredged   channel,    Delaware   River    i-io 

Side   slope   in   dredged   channel.   Back   Creek 1-5 

Side  slope  in  dredged   channel.   Elk  River 1-5 

Side   slope  in   dredged  channel,   Chesapeake   Bay 1-5 

Number  of  locks None 

Number  of  highway  bridges   6 

Number  of  railway  bridges    i 

Excavation   cubic  yards . .        42,675.595 

Estimated  cost  of  construction    $9,910,210.00 

Estimated    cost   of   acquiring   private    waterway $2,514,289.70 

121 


Pciiiisylz'cDiiii  ami  Its  Manifold  .Ictiritics 

In  giving  his  endorsement  to  tlie  recommendalion  of  the  board, 
General  L>ixl)y,  Chief  of  Engineers,  makes  this  comment: 

"This  canal  forms  an  essential  part  of  a  throngh  inland  waterway 
connecting  New  \'(irk  and  Philadelphia  with  the  SduIIi.  Its  ])nrchase, 
and  the  abolishment  of  tolls,  will  produce  at  once  a  considerable  saving 
in  transportation  expenses,  and  slmnld  result  in  an  early  and  substantial 


DREDGING    THE   CAPE   C( 


increase  of  traffic  with  advantage  to  the  commerce  of  several  States. 
This  canal  is  at  present  lo  feet  deep,  and  of  the  lock  type,  the  locks  being 
24  feet  wide  by  220  feet  long.  The  change  should  be  made  gradually 
and  in  such  a  way  as  to  interfere  as  little  as  possible  with  existing  traffic; 
and  12  feet  depth  or  thereabout  will  be  secured  throughout  the  canal 
before  the  deepening  is  carried  to  25  feet.  While  the  recommendation 
for  immediate  purchase  of  this  canal,  and  the  enlargement  of  this  section 
to  about  twelve  feet,  is  a  definite  recommendation,  the  method  of  deepen- 
ing to  25  feet  and  the  rapidity  of  work  for  the  first  and  sul)sequent  deep- 
ening must  depend  considerahh'  upmi  the  cost  of  the  intermediate  steps, 
and  further  estimates  for  such  ])()rtions  of  the  work  will,  therefore,  be 
called  for  and  submitte<l  later  with  final  recommendation  for  this  section." 


I'Jic  hitracoastal  Canal  Chain 

It  is  the  ()i)in!i)n  of  the  Special  Hoard  of  i'Lngineers  that  the  annual 
savings  caused  hv  the  opening  of  a  free  waterway  across  the  Delaware 
peninsula  (this  liased  upon  existing  trafific )  will  be  $1,414,242.  It  pre- 
dicts that  the  completion  of  this  canal  will  be  followed  by  a  very  great 
traffic,  and  declares  that,  independently  of  any  relation  that  this  canal 
may  have  to  a  through  intracoastal  waterway,  its  value  to  existing  com- 
merce justifies  its  construction  by  the  Government.  The  board  further 
sets  forth  that  according  to  the  reports  of  the  Chesapeake  and  Delaware 
Canal  Companv,  the  average  annual  shipments  through  the  canal  for  the 
last  five  years  have  been  716,644  tons,  for  wdiich  the  tolls  have  averaged 
$163,151.33,  or  a  general  average  of  22-yl  cents  per  ton.  Applying  this 
general  rate  to  the  traffic  reported  as  now  existing  and  ready  to  use  a 
free  canal,  it  is  found  that  a  free  canal  would  produce  a  saving  on  tolls 
not  less  than  $577,309  per  year.  In  addition  to  the  saving  on  tolls,  a 
further  saving  of  21^  cents  per  ton  on  the  general  run  of  freight  is  esti- 
mated as  probable. 

The  saving  in  freight  costs  which  may  naturally  be  expected  to 
follow  the  opening  of  this  canal  to  free  and  unrestricted  commerce  may 
be  judged  from  the  following  comparative  rail  and  barge  rates  prepared 
by  shipping  experts: 


Commodity 

Origin  and  Destination 

Barge  Rate' 

Equivalent  Railroad 
Rate 

Actual  Railroad 
Rate 

Lumber     

Norfolk   to    Phila- 

$2      per      thou- 

$3.15  per   thou- 

$1.80   per    2000 

delpliia. 

sand    feet. 

sand    feet. 

pounds. 

Sand     

Philadelphia 

to 

85    cents    to    $1 

$1.60   per    ton. . 

$1.60    per    2000 

New    York. 

per  ton. 

pounds. 

Railroad  ties   . . 

Norfolk    to    Phila- 

II   to    12    cents 

15^/;    cents    per 

9  cents  per   100 

delphia. 

per    tie. 

tie. 

pounds. 

Pig  iron   

do 

95    cents    to    $1 
per    ton. 

$1.95   per   ton.. 

$1.95    per    2240 
pounds. 

Pulp   wood    .  .  . 

do           

$1.80   per    cord. 

$3.85  per   cord. 

$2.20    per    2000 
pounds. 

Fertilizer    

Philadelphia 

to 

$1    to   $1.25   per 

$1.60   per   ton.. 

$1.60    per    2000 

Norfolk. 

ton. 

pounds. 

Coke    

Philadelphia 

to 

60      cents      per 

$1.20   per   ton.  . 

$1.20    per    2000 

Baltimore. 

ton. 

pounds. 

Cinders    

Philadelphia 

to 

85    cents    to    $1 

$1.90   per   ton. . 

$1.90    per    2000 

New  York. 

per    ton. 

pounds. 

Clay   

Coal   anthra- 

do         ... 

do     

$1.85   per   ton.  . 
$2.65   per   ton.  . 

$1.85  per  ton. 
$2.65  per  ton. 

Philadelphia 

to 

65    to    75    cents 

cite"    

Boston. 

per   ton. 

Do.^    

Philadelphia 
Providence. 

to 

55    to    60   cents 
per    ton. 

$2.70   per   ton . . 

$2.70  per  ton. 

'  Barge   rates   between    Philadelphia   and     eastern     points     via 
between   Philadelphia   and   southern   points  via  inside  route. 
■  Railroad   coal    rate    from    Shamnkin,  Schuylkill   district. 


outside     route ; 


123 


Peiiiisylc'aiiia  and  Its  Manifold  .Ictizitics 

Tlic  soutlicnimost  links  of  the  waterways  chain  examined  l\v  the 
board  were  tlie  Alhemarle  and  Chesapeake  Canal,  and  that  south  from 
Albemarle  Sound  to  i'amlico  Sound  and  lieaufort  Inlet.  The  board 
recommends  that  the  property  of  the  Albemarle  and  C'hesapeake  Canal 
Company  be  ])urchased  by  the  Cnited  .States  at  an  estimated  cost  of 
$500,000.  Jt  is  recommended  that  a  waterway  12  feet  deep  be  con- 
structed between  Norfolk.  \'a.,  and  IJeaufort  Inlet.  N.  C.  at  an  estimated 
cost  of  $5,400,000. 

The  Rivers  and  Harbors  Bill  reported  to  Congress,  in  March,  1912, 
gave  the  first  substantial  recognition  to  the  United  States  Army  Engi- 
neers' report,  by  providing  that  the  Chesapeake  and  Albemarle  Canal, 
leading  from  the  North  Carolina  Sounds  to  Hampton  Roads  and  the 
Chesapeake  Bay,  be  taken  over  and  made  free. 

What  was  really  the  first  link  was  completed,  prior  to  the  recent 
surveys,  by  the  dredging  of  the  Beaufort  cut,  which  connects  the  Carolina 
Sounds,  at  Beaufort,  N.  C,  with  the  ocean  below  Cape  Hatteras.  This 
is  10  feet  deep,  and  is  developing  a  large  tonnage.  The  Chesapeake  and 
Albemarle  Canal  is  to  be  next,  and,  working  northward,  the  next  logical 
step  is  the  Chesapeake  and  Delaware  Canal. 


124 


The  Ohio  and  Its  Tributaries 

THE  imin-ovcnient  of  the  Ohio  River  is  to  obtain  a  9-foot  navigable 
depth  from  Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  to  Cairo,  111.,  at  the  confluence  of  the 
Ohio  with  the  Mississippi.  Betv^een  Pittsburgh  and  the  Ohio 
line,  a  distance  of  40  miles,  there  is  a  series  of  seven  dams,  while  between 
Pittsburgh  and  Cairo,  a  distance  of  967  miles,  there  will  be  fifty-four 
(lams.  There  have  been  finished  thirteen  of  the  number,  and  nine  addi- 
tional are  under  contract.  Including  what  has  been  done  and  what  is  to 
be  done,  the  cost  will  be  approximately  $69,000,000. 

While  the  enormous  coal  tonnage  of  Pittsburgh  was  the  primary 
consideration  at  the  outset  in  this  undertaking,  it  was  recognized  that 
with  the  river  at  its  former  stage  there  had  been  no  opportunity  for  the 
full  development  of  tonnage.  It  was  the  belief  that  with  a  navigation 
sufficiently  comprehensive  to  permit  the  expansion  of  water-carried  ton- 
nage in  the  Ohio  Valley,  there  would  develop  local  and  through  traffic 
that  would  speedily  bring  the  Pittsburgh  coal  tonnage  down  to  a  small 
percentage  of  the  total  amount.  When  it  is  considered  that  of  the 
tributaries  of  the  r)hio  there  are  more  than  one  thousand  miles  of 
navigable  waterway  improved  by  locks  and  dams,  it  will  be  seen  how 
great  is  the  opportunity  for  tonnage  development  when  the  Ohio  improve- 
ment shall  be  completed.  The  improvement  has  not  as  yet,  however, 
reached  a  stage  where  large  expansion  of  tonnage  can  be  expected ;  nor 
will  the  full  benefit  to  commerce  be  reaped  until  there  is  slack-water 
navigation  from  Pittsburgh  to  Louisville,  which  will  require  at  least  six 
years  longer. 

The  Ohio  in  its  original  condition  had  a  low-water  channel  depth 
varying  from  i  foot  at  Pittsburgh  to  2  feet  at  the  Ohio  State  line,  the 
average  slope  being  about  1.25  feet  per  mile  and  the  minimum  discharge 
at  the  head  about  1600  cubic  feet  per  second.  The  greatest-  measured 
discharge  at  Pittsburgh  was  439,565  cubic  feet  per  second  on  March 
15,  1907.  Under  the  original  project  for  open-river  improvement,  work 
was  conducted  on  this  portion  of  the  river  at  a  number  of  shoals. 

Under  the  original  project  for  lock  and  dam  construction,  adopted 
in  1875,  Dam  No.  i  was  begun  in  1877  and  completed  in  1885  at  a  cost  of 

125 


Pcinisylraiiia  and  Its  Manifold  .Icthitics 

$940,833.31,  and  the  drift  gap  was  begun  in  1888  and  ojmpleled  in  1889 
at  a  cost  of  $32,857-56,  making  the  total  cost  of  completing  the  lock  and 
dam  $973,690.87.  Appropriations  and  allotments  aggregating  $970,034.01 
have  been  made  and  $3,655.86  was  realized  from  other  sources. 

The  present  project,  in  its  original  form,  was  adopted  by  Congress 
September  19,  1890.  The  i)lan  of  improvement  is  designed  to  afiford 
facilities  for  passing  the  maximum  tonnage  with  the  least  possible  delay. 
The  traffic  moves  down  the  Ohio  from  Pittsburgh  in  large  fleets.  I3arges 
of  looo-tons  capacity  are  used,  and  in  certain  stages  the  river  will  cany 
these  without  the  aid  of  dams  and  slack-water  navigation.  At  such 
stages  lockage  is  unnecessary,  and  by  using  the  normal  depth,  lockage  is 
avoided  and  the  traffic  may  be  moved  in  larger  fleets.  It  has  become, 
therefore,  in  the  improvement  of  the  river,  a  problem  of  using  the  river 
channel  and  avoiding  the  necessity  of  lockage  so  far  as  possible.  For 
this  reason  the  series  of  dams  between  Pittsburgh  and  Cairo  are  of  the 
movable  type,  permitting  the  traffic  to  use  the  channel  when  the  natural 
depth  is  great,  and  affording  slack-water  navigation  when  the  river  is  low. 

The  number  of  boats  in  the  coal  fleets  as  they  leave  Pittsburgh  is 
as  high  as  twent\-four.  and  this  is  increased  in  number  as  they  ])roceed 
down  the  river.  An  idea  of  their  size  when  they  reach  the  [Mississippi 
is  given  by  the  statement  that  the  steamer  "Sprague"  passed  Memphis  on 
May  17.  1904,  towing  fifty-six  coal-boats,  containing  1,400,000  bushels — 
56,000  tons.  Tliis  record-making  fleet  was  1132  feet  in  length  by  312 
feet  in  width. 

In  the  recent  construction  of  movable  daius,  the  engineers  have 
favored  the  "bear-trap.""  This  type  was  invented  in  the  United  States 
in  1818.  French  engineers  who  made  a  trial  of  it  declared  it  to  be  a 
failure.  The  early  method  of  construction,  however,  was,  of  course, 
radically  different  from  that  now  practiced  in  the  Ohio  River  work. 

In  1901  two  steel  dams  of  the  "bear-trap"  type  were  built  on  the 
Alleghenv.  and  their  success  led  to  their  adoption  for  the  Ohio.  These 
were  of  the  usual  form — two  broad  leaves  of  steel,  hinged  at  the  bottom, 
and  lapping  o\cr  each  other.  These  "l)car-traps""  are  used  as  an  auto- 
matic weir,  forming  a  section  of  the  river  dam. 

One  reason  that  has  influenced  the  engineers  in  adopting  this  type 
is  that  all  other  forms  that  are  i:)racticable  for  movable  dams  of  consid- 
erable height  must  be  mechanically  raised  or  lowered,  while  with  this,  the 
operation  of  valves  is  all  that  is  needed.  It  has  been  found  that  a  dam 
120  feet  long  of  the  construction  ado])ted  may  be  lowered  in  one  minute 

126 


'llw   Ohio   and   Its    Trihiitarics 

and  raised  in  three  or  four  minutes.  The  kirgest  thus  far  built  are  at 
Dam  No.  6  in  the  Ohio.  They  are  120  feet  long  and  13  feet  high.  These 
are  of  steel  construction,  the  lower  leaf  entirely  of  steel,  and  the  upper 
of  steel  with  wood  sheathing. 

In  conjunction  with  the  "bear-trap,"  the  Chanoine  wicket   is   being 
used  as  a  main  dam.      For  the  head  of  the   falls  at  Louisville,  a  Boule 


LOCKAGE   OF    COAL,    LOCK    NO.    2,   OHIO    RIVFR 

dam  has  been  adopted.  It  is  the  belief  of  the  engineers  in  charge  of  the 
work  that  the  "bear-trap"  is  valuable  for  pool  regulation  purposes  in  a 
movable  dam  system  where  rises  are  rapid.  The  belief  is  expressed, 
however,  that:  "One  thing  stands  inevitably  in  the  way  of  the  general 
use  of  'bear-trap'  gates  for  navigation  purposes.  They  cannot  be  intro- 
duced in  long  sections,  such  as  for  navigable  passes  or  for  shorter  dams 
over  their  entire  length,  because  of  their  rapid  movement  both  upward 
and  downward,  which  in  the  first  instance  would  cause  a  too  sudden 
reduction  in  the  river's  discharge,  and  in  the  latter  case  would  create  an 
immense  wave,  destructive  alike  to  everything  afloat,  both  above  and 
below  it.  As  an  automatic  weir  for  pool  regulation  and  rise  control, 
however,  it  has  no  equal,  and  its  popularity  for  such  use  will  undoubtedly 


127 


Pemisyk'aiiia  and  Its  Manifold  /Icthnties 

continue  unlos  a  Ijcttcr  device  is  discovered.  It  is  probable  tbat  in  future 
constructions,  traps  of  varying  width  will  be  introduced,  thus  atifording 
greater  flexibility  to  the  system  and  more  readily  accommodating  the 
o])eratiiins  to  the  varying  conditions  of  the  water." 

When  the  river  is  below  nine  feet  the  dams  are  raised  and  kept  up 
until  the  open  river  dei)th  is  nine  feet.     The  length  of  time  that  the  dams 


MONON'GAHELA    RIVER    DAM,     NO.     5,    AND    LOCK 

are  up,  of  course,  varies  according  to  the  character  of  the  seasons.  While 
some  dredging  work  will  be  done,  the  lock  and  dam  construction  is 
depended  upon  mainly  to  provide  the  9-foot  depth. 

Begimiing  at  the  head  of  the  Ohio,  its  principal  tributaries  which 
have  heretofore  received  the  attention  of  the  Federal  Government  are  the 
Allegheny,  Monongahela,  Muskingum,  Little  Kanawha,  Kanawha,  Big 
Sandy,  Kentucky,  Green,  Wabash,  Cumberland,  and  Tennessee  Rivers. 
Upon  these,  some  seventy  locks  and  dams  have  been  constructed  and  are 
being  maintained,  which,  together  with  a  canal  eighteen  miles  long  in  con- 
nection with  the  Tennessee  River  navigation,  furnish  1000  miles  of  slack- 
water  navigation,  or  together  more  than  the  entire  length  of  the  Ohio 
River.     The  permanent  navigable  portions  of  these  tributaries  reach  out 


128 


The   Ohio  and  Its    Tributaries 

into  many  of  the  most  important  mineral  regions  of  tlie  Ohio  Ijasin, 
atiforcling  communication  with  the  main  traffic  of  the  great  agricultural 
regions  bordering  thereon  and  of  many  thriving  industrial  communities. 
The  improvement  of  the  Monongahela  River,  which  has  so  efficiently 
accommodated  the  coal  and  iron  industries  of  the  Pittsburgh  district  to 
the  south,  and  has  added  so  materially  to  the  industrial  develo])ment  of 


MOXnXGAHELA     RIVER    IMPROVEMENT.       CLOSING    OF    DAM     NO.     5 

the  world's  great  steel-producing  center  for  a  distance  of  more  than  fifty 
miles  up  that  stream,  was  first  undertaken  by  the  Monongahela  Navigation 
Company,  a  corporation  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  about  1838.  Within 
six  years  permanent  navigation  had  been  extended  nearly  sixty  miles,  to 
a  point  above  Brownsville,  Pa.  Its  subsecjuent  extensions  were  carried 
to  the  line  of  West  Virginia,  near  Greensboro.  In  the  meantime  and  prior 
to  1883  the  United  States  Government  undertook  the  improvement  of 
the  Monongahela  River  within  the  State  of  West  \'irginia,  extending 
continuous  navigation  by  means  of  Locks  and  Dams  8  and  9  to  Morgan- 
town,  100  miles  above  Pittsburgh.  These  two  structures  were  accom- 
plished at  a  cost  of  $437,000.  In  1897  the  United  States  Government 
purchased  the  property  rights  of  the  Monongahela  Navigation  Company, 


129 


Pennsyh'ania  and  Its  Manifold  Activities 

comprising  F.ocks  and  Dams  i  to  7,  inclusive,  at  a  cost  of  $3,769,073.89. 
During  the  next  eight  years  the  Federal  Government,  at  a  cost  of 
$1,200,000,  constructed  Locks  and  Dams  10  to  15,  inclusive,  extending 
the  slack-water  navigation  to  l^^airmont.  \V.  \  a..  130  miles  above  the 
mouth  of  the  river. 

Within  a  few  years  after  Government  acquisition  of  the  Monongahela 
Navigation  Company's  locks  and  dams,  the  traffic  on  the  lower  Monon- 
gahela increased  practically  100  per  cent.,  and  necessitated  the  enlarge- 
ment of  the  old  locks  at  least  as  far  as  No.  5  at  Brownsville. 

\\  ith  the  exception  of  one  small  lock  at  Dam  4,  between  Monessen 
and  Charleroi,  all  of  the  other  structures  have  been  rebuilt,  the  locks  of 
much  larger  capacity  and  the  entire  structures  of  concrete  throughout, 
rendering  them  more  durable  and  efficient  for  the  maintenance  and  conduct 
of  a  large  commercial  movement  on  a  stream  with  exceedingly  small  low- 
water  discharge.  To  further  facilitate  the  rapid  movement  of  commerce 
double  locks  have  been  provided  for  each  of  Dams  i  to  5,  inclusive,  cov- 
ering the  lowermost  seventy  miles  of  river.  The  new  locks  are  56  feet 
by  360  feet  in  their  useful  dimensions,  and  the  dams  by  means  of  movable 
crests  are  arranged  to  furnish  a  least  depth  of  9  feet  for  navigation  pur- 
poses. The  reconstruction  of  these  locks  and  dams,  together  with  the 
enlargement  of  Lock  6,  which  has  practically  been  accomplished  within 
the  last  eight  years,  has  been  done  at  a  cost  of  $2,526,000.  The  entire 
cost  of  the  Monongahela  River  navigation  plant  to  the  United  States, 
including  the  purchase  of  the  old  locks  and  dams  from  the  Monongahela 
Navigation  Company,  their  reconstruction  and  the  erection  of  the  locks 
and  dams  above  them  to  Fairmont,  comprising  fifteen  dams  with  twenty 
locks,  and  covering  a  distance  of  130  miles,  is  approximately  $8,000,000. 

Upon  the  slack-water  pools  of  the  Monongahela  River  there  are 
annually  transported  from  eleven  to  twelve  million  tons  of  freight, 
and  the  improvement  is  capable  of  handling  several  times  that  amount. 
Furthermore,  the  greater  number  of  the  structures  are  practically  new 
and  of  the  latest  design  and  construction,  thus  affording  better  facilities 
for  the  safe  and  rapid  movement  of  heavily  loaded  craft  than  at  any 
time  in  the  past. 

Within  recent  years  considerable  local  agitation  has  again  attracted 
the  attention  of  Congress  to  the  improvement  of  the  Youghiogheny  River, 
the  mi^st  important  tributary  of  the  Monongahela,  which  joins  the  main 
stream  at  McKeesport,  fifteen  miles  above  Pittsburgh.  After  a  most 
careful  investigation  Congress  deemed  this  stream  worthy  of  improvement 


130 


The   Ohio  and  Its  Tributaries 

at  the  present  time  up  as  far  as  \\  est  Xewton.  sixteen  miles  al)o\e  its 
mouth,  and  has  appropriated,  for  ])reliminary  work  in  connection  with 
the  construction  of  locks  and  dams  thereon,  $100,000. 

For  various  reasons  the  Allegheny  River,  like  the  Ohio,  of  whicli  it  is 
one  of  the  parent  streams,  has  been  delayed  in  its  permanent  improvement. 
As  far  hack  as  1828  this  river  was  surveved  bv  the  United  States,  and  its 


STEAMER    "sPRAGUe"    TOWING    A    1 


-:(;h  coal  barges 


worth  as  a  navigable  waterway  and  the  remarkable  mineral  resources  were 
determined.  However,  it  was  not  until  1878  that  active  operations  were 
instituted  for  the  removal  from  its  channel  of  the  enormous  quantity  of 
huge  boulders  which  lined  its  navigable  course.  In  the  early  nineties, 
when  these  had  been  effectually  removed  and  numerous  low-water  dikes 
and  dams  in  the  interest  of  an  open-river  navigation  had  been  con- 
structed, the  erection  of  the  first  lock  and  dam  at  Pittsburgh  was 
undertaken.  Within  the  next  twelve  years  this  structure  and  two  addi- 
tional locks  and  dams,  extending  slack-water  to  Natrona,  twenty-five 
miles  above  the  mouth,  were  completed  at  a  cost  of  $1,675,000.  Again 
progress  on  this  stream  was  delayed,  owing  to  litigation  looking  to  the 
raising  and  widening  of  spans  of  certain  bridges  affording  inadequate 
facilities  for  the  passage  of  modern  towboats,  operating  on  the  Alonon- 
gahela  and  Ohio  Rivers,  at  the  more  desirable  navigable  stages  of  the 


131 


PciDisylz'aiiia  and  Its  Manifold  .Ictk'itics 

water.  This  havin^^  liecn  accomplished  in  a  measure  only,  Congress  has 
again  authorized  an  examination  into  the  needs  of  the  stream  for  the 
extension  of  its  slack-water  navigation,  and  the  Rivers  and  llarl)ors  Com- 
mittee of  Congress  recently  personally  examined  the  stream  from  Oil 
City  to  the  mouth,  a  distance  of  134  miles,  and  were  much  impressed 
with  the  importance  of  the  valley  from  the  point  of  view  of  its  mineral 
resources  and  the  industrial  activities  on  its  banks. 

In  ])ut  few  valleys  in  this  or  any  other  country  has  nature  been 
more  generous  in  the  distribution  of  her  mineral  wealth  than  in  the 
Allegheny.  Coal  of  excellent  quality,  limestone,  building  stone,  silica 
rock  for  the  manufacture  of  glass  and  especially  of  plate  glass,  fire  clay 
of  finest  cjuality  and  other  clays  and  shales  suitable  for  the  manufacture 
of  brick,  sewer  pipe,  etc.,  pottery  clay,  iron  ore,  petroleum,  natural  gas, 
gravel  and  sand  for  concrete  building  purposes,  timber,  etc.,  in  enormous 
quantities,  are  found  throughout  diiYerent  portions  of  the  Allegheny 
X'alley,   especially  on   the  lowermost    100  miles. 

Special  efifort  has  recently  been  made  to  obtain  appropriations  for 
five  additional  locks  and  dams  on  the  Allegheny.  The  estimated  cost  is 
$2,778,000,  and  the  Chief  of  Engineers  has  made  a  favorable  recom- 
mendation on  the  project.     The  proposed  improvements  are: 

,.  ,  .  Distance  from  Lift  Total  Cost  Concrete 

^o.  Location  ^^^^^^  (miles)  (feet)  Construction 

4  Natrona     24.  12  $483,000 

5  Near    Murphy's    Island    31.6  12  580,000 

6  Near    Clinton    37.  12  619,000 

7  Kittanning    46.  13  580,000 

8  Near  Mosgrove    53.3  15  526,000 

$2,788,000 

With  the  improvements  of  the  Ohio  and  its  tributaries  completed 
that  are  now  under  way  or  contemplated,  this  system  of  rivers  will 
afYord  an  outlet  to  the  sea  at  the  south,  and  to  the  Panama  Canal  for  the 
vast  tonnage  of  this  great  region.  Should  the  proposed  Lake  Erie  and 
Ohio  River  Ship  Canal  be  cut,  it  would  complete  an  unequalled  system 
of  inland  navigation. 


132 


The  Gateway  to  the  Sea 

THE  navigable  channel  of  the  Delaware  River  extends  from  the 
head  of  Delaware  I>ay — from  which  point  there  is  deep  water 
to  the  ocean — to  Trenton,  on  the  north.  Operations  are  now 
under  way  for  the  deepening  of  the  channel  from  Philadelphia  to  the 
bay  to  a  depth  of  35  feet,  and  between  Philadelphia  and  Trenton  to  a 
depth  of  12  feet.  The  estimated  cost  of  the  35-foot  channel  is  $10,920,000. 
Its  width  in  the  straight  parts  is  to  be  800  feet,  the  width  at  P>ulkhead 
liar,  1200  feet,  and  at  the  other  bends,  1000  feet.  The  distance  from 
Philadelphia  to  the  Capes  is  about  one  hundred  miles,  and  the  section 
under  improvement  is  63  miles  in  length.  The  range  of  tide  is  from  5  to 
6  feet,  so  that  a  channel  of  35  feet  at  mean  low  water  will  give  a  depth 
at  the  top  of  the  tide  of  40  to  41  feet.  It  is  estimated  that  the  deeper 
channel  could  be  completed  by  the  end  of  the  vear  1916. 

Systematic  improvements  on  the  river  were  begun  in  1885,  when 
a  project  was  authorized  looking  to  a  channel  26  feet  in  depth  at  mean 
low  water,  and  600  feet  in  width.  This  channel  was  planned  to  extend 
from  a  point  a  quarter  of  a  mile  above  Allegheny  Avenue,  Philadelphia, 
to  deep  water  in  the  bay.  In  March,  1899,  a  larger  project  was  adopted, 
which  provided  for  a  channel  30  feet  in  depth  and  600  feet  in  width. 
This,  however,  did  not  include  Philadelphia  harbor,  but.  instead  of 
extending  as  far  north  as  Allegheny  Avenue,  extended  north  only  as 
far  as  Christian  Street,  Philadelphia.  Work  under  this  project  was 
carried  on  up  to  March,  191 1,  when  it  was  considered  as  practically 
completed.  The  total  expenditures  on  channel  improvements  up  to  that 
time,  and  dating  back  to  1836,  aggregated  $10,176,002.08.  This  did  not, 
however,  include  the  cost  of  the  removal  from  Philadelphia  harbor  of 
Smith's  Island  and  Windmill  Island,  a  work  which  was  completed  in 
1898,  and  which  cost  $3,945,424.75. 

During  the  progress  of  the  30-foot  channel  work  there  was  a  dis- 
position on  the  part  of  the  National  Congress  to  await  definite  information 
as  to  the  cost  of  maintenance  before  embarking  upon  a  greater  project. 
The  alluvial  character  of  the  river,  and  the  difficulty  of  maintaining  the 
channel    over    certain    of    the    shoal    areas,    presented    problems    whicli 

133 


Pennsyh'ania  and  Its  Manifold  .Ictnitics 

C()nij;ress  waiteil  to  see  solved  liefore  inakini,^  ai)i)ro])riations  tor  greater 
channel  depths. 

Insistence  on  the  part  of  the  imjjortant  commercial  interests  of  the 
Delaware,  however,  resulted  in  a  provision  in  the  River  and  Harbor  Act, 
March,  1909,  for  a  survey  and  examination  of  the  Delaware  from  Alle- 
gheny Avenue  to  the  sea,  "with  a  view  to  obtaining  a  channel  35  feet  in 
depth  and  of  suitable  width." 

The  plan,  as  adopted,  provides  for  an  important  extension  of  the 
system  of  dikes  upon  the  river,  with  a  view  to  systematic  contraction 
and  control  of  the  tidal  flow.  While  more  or  less  diking  had  been  done 
in  the  earlier  work,  it  was  not  upon  so  wide  a  scale  as  under  the  newly 
adopted  project.  Important  construction  had,  of  course,  been  done  to 
contract  the  cross-section  of  the  river  in  certain  sections  of  great  width. 
There  had  been  built,  for  instance,  opposite  Reedy  Island,  an  artificial 
island  15,500  feet  long  and  2240  feet  wide  at  its  widest  point.  The 
building  of  this  island  was  decided  upon  after  an  objection,  raised  by 
the  interests  in  lower  Delaware,  had  made  impossible  the  construction  of 
a  dike  along  the  Delaware  side.  This  dike,  as  proposed,  would  have 
shut  off  the  access  to  several  streams  in  Delaware  emptying  into  the  bay, 
and  the  protest  was  so  determined  that  it  was  found  necessary  to  abandon 
the  diking'  plan,  and  to  construct,  instead,  this  large  artificial  island  close 
to  the  New  Jersey  shore.  Among  other  operations  intended  to  control 
the  tidal  flow  under  the  30- foot  project,  was  a  dike  on  the  Delaware 
side,  at  Edgemoor,  above  the  city  of  Wilmington.  This  was  partly  con- 
structed under  the  30- foot  channel  project. 

The  proposed  system  of  dikes  is  planned  with  a  view  to  reducing 
the  cost  of  maintaining  the  channel,  and  the  need  of  these  works  will  be 
greater  under  the  newly  adopted  project  than  under  the  30-foot  channel 
project,  as  a  far  greater  amount  of  dredging  would  be  necessary  if 
dredging  alone  were  to  be  depended  upon. 

The  first  of  these  new  works  below  Philadelphia  is  the  raising  of 
Mifflin  Bar  dike  to  mean  high  water  and  its  extension  at  that  height  to 
Tinicum  Island.     This  will  cut  ofT  a  secondary  channel. 

The  second  of  the  series  is  at  the  upper  end  of  Chester  Island,  which 
is  to  be  connected  with  Mond's  Island.  This,  besides  contracting  the 
flow  and  cutting  off  a  secondary  channel,  will  furnish  a  basin  for  the 
deposit  of  dredged  materials. 

Improvement  of  the  troublesome  shoal  at  Cherry  Island  Flats  con- 
templates the  completion  of  the  now  partly  constructed  Edgemoor  bulk- 

134 


The  Gatewax  to  the  Sea 


135 


I'ciiiisylraiiia  and  fts  Manifold  .Ictk'itics 

head  to  connect  it  with  the  jetty  on  the  north  side  of  Cliristiana  River. 
A  high-tide  (Hke  on  the  New  Jersey  side  at  Old  Man  J'oint,  above  Edge- 
ni(K)r,  will  concentrate  the  flow  in  the  adopted  channel.  The  Edgemoor 
hnlkhead.  wlien  coni])leted,  will  enclose  a  hasin  about  looo  acres  in 
extent,  which   is  to  be  used    for  the  de])osit  of  dredged  material. 

It  is  also  planned  to  connect  the  artificial  island  with  the  jersey 
mainland.  It  had  been  found  that  a  strong  scour  resulted  between  this 
island  and  the  mainland,  and  one  purpose  of  the  dike  to  connect  the  island 
with  the  land  is  to  cut  off  this  secondary  channel.  A  dike  is  also  planned 
to  e.xtend  two  miles  from  the  lower  end  of  Reedy  Island,  and  another,  a 
s]inr  dike,  is  to  l)e  constructed  opposite  Liston  Point. 

While  it  has  been  found  that  the  numerous  cities,  towns,  tributaries, 
and  bends  make  it  almost  impossible  to  carry  out  a  scheme  of  reducing 
the  river  to  a  regular  form,  it  has  been  decided  that  the  most  practical 
treatment  appears  to  be  the  construction  of  these  works  to  improve 
conditions  between  the  points  of  good,  natural  depths  without  obstructing 
the  flow  of  the  tides.  Specifications  for  the  construction  of  four  of  the 
dikes,  located  respectively  at  Chester  Island,  Old  Man  Point,  Reedy 
Island,  and  the  lower  end  of  .Artificial  Island,  were  ap]M-oved  June  22, 
191 1,  and  this  work  is  now  under  contract. 

In  the  cutting  of  the  deeper  channel,  the  lines  of  the  30-foot  channel 
will  be  adhered  to  except  at  Schooner  Ledge,  opposite  Chester.  This 
obstruction  in  the  river  is  a  large  ledge  with  several  outlying  small  ledges, 
the  whole  extending  over  a  distance  of  3300  feet.  Under  the  former 
l)roject  this  was  cut  to  30  feet  in  depth,  government  plant  being  used. 
When  the  35-foot  survey  was  made,  however,  it  was  found  that  the 
construction  of  a  deeper  and  wider  channel  on  the  present  lines  would 
necessitate  so  great  an  amount  of  rock  e.xcavation  as  to  make  the  cost 
excessive.  It  was  found  also  that  east  of  the  rock  area  the  bottom  of 
the  river  is  of  soft  material,  and  that  the  shifting  of  the  channel  to  the 
eastward  would  mean  much  less  expense.  A  disadvantage  of  the  shifting 
of  the  line  is  that  the  city  of  Chester  will  be  farther  removed  from  the 
deep  ship  channel :  but  it  was  the  o])inion  of  the  engineers  that  the  30-foot 
depth  at  mean  low  water,  over  .Schooner  Ledge,  would  be  ample  to  provide 
for  the  needs  of  that  city  for  many  years  to  come. 

It  is  estimated  that  the  cost  of  maintenance  will  be  $300,000  a  year. 
Recent  operations  have  indicated  that  this  estimated  maintenance  cost 
is  liberal.  Maintenance  operations  have  recently  been  conducted  by  the 
suction  dredge  "Delaware,"  which  was  built  by  the  (Government  for  use 

136 


The  Gatcicay  to  the  Sea 

in  the  Delaware  River,  and  by  the  dredge  "Manhattan."  These  two 
dredges  of  the  suction  type,  working  steadily,  have  been  able  not  only 
to  maintain  the  channel,  but  to  reduce  the  accumulation  of  past  years. 
Recent  surveys  of  the  river  show  depths  in  the  channel  over  the  shoal 
areas  ranging  from  28  feet  to  2>2  feet,  and,  while  these  depths  do  not 
extend  over  the  entire  channel  width,  they  furnish  a  navigable  path  for 


SAND   AXD   COAL    WHARVES,    SCHUYLKILL    RIVER.    PHILADELPHIA 

deep-draft  vessels.  These  maintenance  operations  indicate  that  two 
dredges  of  the  most  modern  type  are  sufficient  to  properly  maintain  the 
deeper  channel. 

The  greater  part  of  the  shoaling  wdiich  takes  place  in  the  channel 
is  below  Schooner  Ledge ;  it  is  composed  of  very  soft  mud,  and  it  is 
difficult  to  fill  the  dredges'  bins  with  solid  material  when  working  in  such 
localities.  The  dredges  when  operating  in  this  locality  have  pumped 
directly  overboard  on  ebb  tide,  so  that  the  light  material  would  be  carried 
by  the  tide  toward  deep  water  in  Delaware  Bay.  On  flood  tide  the 
material  was  held  in  the  bins  and  deposited  at  Deep  Water  Point,  N.  J., 
and  back  of  Artificial   Island,  to  be  rehandled 

During  the  season  of  1912  there  will  be  expended  on  dikes  the  sum  of 


137 


Pciiiisylc'aiiia  and  Its  Manifold  Actiiitics 

$600,000,  and  on  dredging  under  the  35-foot  channel  jiroject  an  equal 
amount,  making  a  total  of  $1,200,000.  The  River  and  Harbor  Act  of 
February  2/,  191 1,  appropriated  $800,000  for  the  deeper  channel.  The 
balance  unexpended  July  i,  1910.  was  $825,000,  making  a  total  amount 
provifled  up  to  and  including  the  act  of  February  2'/,  191 1,  of  $1,625,000. 
Jn  addition  to  this,  contracts  to  the  amount  of  $700,000  had  been  author- 
ized by  Congress  to  be  paid  as  appropriation  is  made.  Liberal  provision 
for  the  continuance  of  the  work  is  made  in  the  River  and  Harbor  Bill  of 
191 2.  The  total  appropriations  for  the  river  up  to  and  inchuling  February 
27,   191 1,  are  as  follows: 

Total  from  1836  to  December  31,  1902,  previous  to  adoption  of 
existing  project,  as  per  House  Document  No.  421,  Fifty- 
seventh  Congress,  second  session,  page  340 $4,204,000.00 

March  3,    1903    1,400,000.00 

April   28,    1904    1,000,000.00 

March  3,   1905    500,000.00 

June  30,   1906   1,000,000.00 

]\Iarch   2,    1907 895,000.00 

May  27,    1908    375,000.00 

March   3,    1909 390,000.00 

March  4,   1909   125,000.00 

June  25,   1910 800,000.00 

February   27,    191 1 800,000.00 


$11,489,000.00 


In  addition  to  this  there  has  been  appropriated  for  work  of  improve- 
ment in  Philadelphia  harbor  $3,950,000,  making  a  total  of  $15,465,529.22 
before  the  beginning  of  the  year  1912. 

It  is  not  alone  the  importance  of  the  general  commerce  of  the  Dela- 
ware that  has  been  considered  by  Congress  in  its  decision  to  undertake 
this  work.  Important  as  this  commerce  is.  the  special  interests  of  the 
Government  itself  justify  the  improvement.  The  principal  shipbuilding 
interests  of  the  country  are  on  the  Delaware.  The  Philadelphia  Navy 
Yard,  because  of  its  protected  position,  its  equipment,  the  extent  of  its 
territory,  and  its  fresh-water  basin  for  the  storage  of  shi]:is,  holds  a  place 
that  is  second  to  none  among  the  navy  yards  of  the  country.  It  has  a 
unique  position  by  reason  of  its  proximity  to  an  excellent  labor  market 
and  an  inexhaustible  fuel  supply.  If  it  shall  be  determined,  as  it  may  be, 
that  there  is  to  be  but  one  great  naval  station  upon  the  Pacific  and  another 
upon  the  Atlantic,  the  yard  at  League  Island  is,  without  doubt,  the  most 
suitable  among  Eastern  yards  from  the  standpoint  of  naval  strategy  as 
well    as   of   economy   and    convenience.      Besides   these   reasons    for   the 

138 


The  Gateway  to  the  Sea 

improvement  of  the  channel,  there  is  the  added  reason  that  the  commerce 
of  the  Delaware  pays  into  the  national  treasury  approximately  $20,000,000 
annually.  In  the  calendar  year  191 1  the  duties  collected  in  the  port  of 
Philadelphia  amounted  to  $20,713,208. 

The  Delaware  carries  more  commerce  and  does  a  greater  business 
for  the   Government   than   anv  other  river  in   the   United    States.     The 


TRANSATLANTIC  PIERS,   DELAWARE   RIVER,  PENNSYLVANIA   RAILROAD 


following. summary  of  the  freight  movement  gives  an  idea  of  the  extent 
of  this  traffic : 

1909  1910 


Foreign : 
Arrivals 

Quantity 
Tons 

Value 

$78,001,864 
80,503,231 

Quantity 
Tons 

2,948,179 

2,532,677 

Value 

$89,646,337 
65,256,949 

Departures    . . . 

■  ■  •        3,041,433 

Domestic : 

Arrivals    

.  .  .        8,955,449 

626.599,621 

9,124,659 

643,059  246 

Departures    . .  . 

.  .  .     10,446,750 

542.765,146 

10890.698 

542,429,362 

Total 


....  24,667,671     $1,327,869,862    25,496,213     $1,340,391,891 

The    imports    and    exports    of    the    Port    of    Philadelphia    and    the 
revenue  collected  is  shown  by  the  following  figures : 


1901 
1902 
1903 
1904 
1905 
1906 
1907 
1908 
1909 
1910 


.  3,183,584 

•  2,748,839 

•  2,378,307 
.  2,552,065 
.  3,267,439 
.  3,800,995 
.  4,056,716 

•  3,532,472 

•  3,041,433 

•  2,532,677 


$79,324-344 
76,022,896 
73,184,394 
66,539.909 
70,645.103 
88:276,315 

106,570.527 
95,533,079 
80,503,231 
65,256,949 


1,279,044 
1,679,403 
1,561,052 
I  057,348 
1,365,245 
1,732935 
1,800,520 
1.551,015 
2,234.039 
2,948.179 


$51,365,142 
55,064,776 
55,516052 
53,852,194 
67,913822 
72,137,678 
80  693,324 
57,407,933 
78001,864 
89,646,337 


,046,007 
360.362 
,020,331 
997,700 
022,804 
505,545 
044,374 
963.929 
810,442 
888,285 


f39 


Pennsylvania  and  Its  Manifold  Activities 

During  tlic  calendar  year  ending  December  31,  191 1,  the  port  of 
Philadelphia  made  a  new  commercial  record,  a  greater  mimber  of  vessels 
with  larger  tonnage  having  arrived  here  during  that  period  than  in  any 
previous  year.  The  gain  was  chiefly  centered  in  the  movement  to  and  from 
coastwise  ports,  nearly  all  vessels  available  for  that  service  having  been 
placed  in  use. 


A    VIEW    OF    THI-     I'll  II.  MHI.ril  I  \     ll\K'i:(il;     h  K'n  \ 

The  foreign  and  coastwise  arrivals  for  the  year  191 1,  as  recorded  in 
the  office  of  the  Commissioners  of  Navigation,  numbered  6286,  or  a  gain 
of  97  vessels.  The  aggregate  tonnage,  as  represented  by  the  6286  vessels 
for  the  year  191 1,  was  10,217,388,  as  against  6189  vessels  with  an  aggre- 
gate tonnage  of  9,871,667  during  1910. 

Of  the  items  in  the  coastwise  trade,  the  greatest  increase  is  shown 
in  general  cargoes  brought  here  by  the  regular  line  steamships.  Sub- 
stantial increases  were  also  shown  in  the  fleet  of  vessels  that  arrived  with 
oil  from  the  Texas  fields,  pulp  wood,  mine  props,  pig  iron,  cinders,  stone, 
phosphate  rock,  wood  blocks,  and  coal-tar  products.  Comparative  figures 
of  large  items  for  the  two  years  follow  : 

1910  1911 

Lumber     feet  396,323.05.2  219,884,525 

Oil     l)an-els  3,1 12,981  .^.31/  787 

Shingles 6, 1 1 1 .000  4,000,000 

Railroad  ties   3.673,694  1.397,425 

Mine  props   tons  ('^?„7-iO  81,926 

Pulp   wood    cords  17  363  42,860 

Pig  iron   tons  28492  41,294 

Cinders    tons  13.100  34,282 

Stone    tons  23,459  32,165 

Sand    tons  10,095  M-695 

Phosphate    rock     tons  14,399  60.738 

Wood   blocks    tons  T,8oo  4  720 

Coal   tar    barrels         44.225 

140 


The  Gatci^'ay  to  the  Sea 

Antliracite  and  hituniinous  coal  shipmeiils  for  1911  to  foreign  and 
coastwise  ports  totalled  3,987, 748 ]/>  tons.  Of  this  amount,  i,439,293K' 
tons  were  anthracite  coal  and  2,548,455  tons  bituminous  coal. 

The  rig.  number,  and  tonnage  of  vessels  which  arrived  at  the  Port 
of  Philadelphia  from  foreign  and  coastwise  ports  during  1910,  as  com- 
pared with  the  twelve  months  ending  December  31,  191 1,  is  shown  in 
the  following  table : 

FROM  FOREIGN  PORTS       FROM  FOREIGN  PORTS 
1910  1911 

Rig  No.  Tonnage  No.  Tonnage 

Steamships    1286        4,553,242  1233  4,558,621 

Ships     4  7,167 

Barks    21              26,567  24  26,859 

Brigs    2  840 

Schooners    71              32  027  68  32,352 

FROM    COASTWISE  FROM    COASTWISE 

PORTS— 1910  PORTS— 1911 

Rig  No.  Tonnage  No.  Tonnage 

Steamships    1737         2,919,455         1789        3,068,982 

Ships     9  23,305  4  10,208 

Barks    11  14,118  7  13.391 

Brigs    

Schooners    672  479-515  623  512,133 

Barges    2381         1,815.720        2532         1986,835 

Total    6189        9,871,667        6286       10.217,388 

The  Upper  River  Channel 

Between  Philadelphia  and  Trentou,  N.  J.,  the  river  is  being  deepened 
to  12  feet.  This  section  of  the  river  is  about  thirty  miles  in  length.  In  its 
original  condition  it  was  obstructed  by  several  shoals.  At  Five-Mile 
Bar,  between  Allegheny  Avenue  and  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  bridge, 
a  shoal  extended  across  the  channel  from  the  Pennsylvania  side.  Kinkora 
Bar  w^as  the  next  obstruction,  and  there  w^as  also  a  shoal  area  from  Bor- 
dentown  to  Trenton,  a  distance  of  about  five  miles.  The  depth  of  the 
channel  through  the  shoals  varied  from  three  to  six  feet  at  mean  low  tide. 

No  comprehensive  project  had  been  adopted  for  the  improvement 
of  this  part  of  the  river  prior  to  1910,  although  at  various  times  since  1872 
work  was  done  at  different  localities  with  a  view  to  obtaining  a  depth  of 
7  feet  at  mean  low  tide  and  a  channel  width  of  200  feet.  The  amount 
expended  in  channel  improvement  between  Philadelphia  and  Trenton 
prior  to  the  adoption  of  the  new  project  was  $197,423.48. 

Awakening  interest  on  the  part  of  the  city  of  Trenton  to  the  impor- 
tance of  obtaining  an  outlet  to  the  sea  resulted  in  the  adoption  of  the  new 
project,  which  provides  for  a  channel  12  feet  deep  at  mean  low  water  and 


141 


Pennsylvania  a)id  Its  Manifold  Activities 

200  feet  in  widtli.  Tlie  estimated  cost  of  the  improvement  is  $360,000, 
and  tlie  cost  for  maintenance  $20,000  a  year.  The  plan  for  this  improve- 
ment i)rovides  for  the  construction  of  dikes  at  Bordentown  and  at  Biles 
Island,  near  Trenton.  The  Bordentown  dike,  which  is  now  completed, 
extends  from  Duck  Island  to  the  locks  on  the  Delaware  and  Raritan  Canal. 
This  dike  is  one  mile  in  length,  and  consists  of  a  timber  fence  with  gravel 
and  cobble  at  either  side.  The  timber  acts  as  a  core  wall,  preventing  the 
wash  of  the  currents.  The  coarse  gravel  and  cobble  used  in  the  construc- 
tion was  pumped  direct  from  the  channel  of  the  river. 

When  the  proposed  channel  is  completed  the  depth  will  be  18  feet 
at  the  top  of  the  tide  to  a  distance  of  twenty-six  miles  above  Philadelphia. 
This  will  make  it  possible  for  large  sea-going  vessels  to  proceed  as  far 
as  the  Roebling  works,  below  Trenton. 

Although  having  a  rise  of  tide  of  four  feet,  and  with  a  path  for 
commerce  cut  to  the  deep  channel,  Trenton  manifested  but  little  interest 
in  the  systematic  development  of  its  water  front  until  the  year  1907.  In 
that  year  Frederick  W.  Donnelly,  since  elected  mayor  of  the  city, 
began  an  active  crusade  for  the  improvement  of  the  water-front  facilities. 
A  comprehensive  plan  was  adopted,  and  an  act  was  passed  by  the  New- 
Jersey  Legislature,  giving  to  cities  the  right  to  issue  bonds  for  the  purchase 
of  land  and  the  control  of  water  fronts.  This  act  also  created  a  harbor 
board.  A  start  toward  municipal  control  has  been  made,  and  the  city  now 
has  the  ends  of  five  streets,  while  negotiations  are  now  under  way  with 
property  owners  with  a  view  to  opening  the  balance  of  the  water  front  for 
a  distance  of  2000  running  feet.  The  city  of  Trenton  has  appropriated 
$50,000  for  this  work,  while  an  additional  $50,000  is  assured  to  begin  the 
building  of  Pier  No.  i.  The  total  cost  of  the  water-front  improvement, 
v>^hen  completed,  will  be  $1,000,000.  The  city  has  also  acquired  twenty 
acres  of  land  one-eighth  of  a  mile  below  Lalor  Street  for  a  sewage 
disposal  plant.  This  improvement  will  include  the  construction  of  1800 
feet  of  bulkhead,  which  will  provide  that  amount  of  free  dockage. 

It  was  this  activity  on  the  part  of  the  city  of  Trenton  that  very  largely 
influenced  the  Government  in  making  provisions  for  the  improvement  of 
the  river  from  Philadelphia  to  Lalor  Street,  and  also  for  improving  the 
Trenton  river  front. 

The  National   Harbor  of   Refuge 

In  addition  to  work  on  the  channel,  the  Government  has  constructed 
at  the  entrance  to  Delaware  Bav  the  National  Harbor  of  Refuge  for  storm- 


142 


The  Gatewav  to  the  Sea 


U3 


Peinisyhc'Oiiia  and  Its  Manifold  Acthitics 

distressed  shi])])in.i:-  aloii^-  llie  dant,a'r()us  Xew  jersey  and  Maryland  streteli 
of  coast. 

The  project  for  this  ini])r(jvenient  was  adopted  June  3.  i8(/).  Work 
on  the  breakwater  located  along  the  eastern  branch  of  the  siioal  known  as 
the  "Sliears"  was  commenced  May  4,  1897,  and  completed  December 
II,  1901.  The  substructure  of  the  breakwater  has  a  length  of  8040  and 
the  superstructure  a  length  of  7950  feet,  measured  on  the  low-water  line. 
Work  on  the  fifteen  ice  piers  across  the  upper  end  of  the  harbor  to  protect 
it  from  moving  ice  descending  the  bay  was  commenced  in  October,  1900, 
and  completed  June  i(>.  1^03,  the  work  having  been  done  under  two  sub- 
projects,  dated  April  2^,  1900,  and  June  30,  1902,  providing  for  ten  and 
five  ice  piers  respectively.  The  amount  of  stone  deposited  in  this  work 
was  108,973  tons.  The  amount  expended  to  the  close  of  the  fiscal  year 
ending  June  30,  1911,  was  $2,245,771.83. 

The  great  value  of  this  harbor  to  commerce  is  due  to  its  location.  It 
is  about  equidistant  from  New  York,  Philadelphia,  and  the  capes  of  Chesa- 
peake Bay  (the  ocean  entrance  for  the  ports  of  Baltimore,  Norfolk,  and 
Newport  News),  and  is  therefore  an  especially  convenient  port  of  call  for 
the  entire  commerce  of  the  North  Atlantic  coast.  It  is  now  largely  used 
by  vessels  awaiting  orders  to  ports  for  discharge  or  loading.  During  the 
year  ending  December  31,  1910,  991  vessels,  not  including  small  craft, 
called  at  this  harbor. 

By  the  construction  of  the  breakwater  the  usefulness  of  this  anchorage 
has  been  greatly  increased,  not  only  as  a  port  of  call,  but  also  as  a  harbor 
of  refuge.  Vessels  bound  from  Northern  to  Southern  or  from  Southern  to 
Northern  ports  are  able  to  go  to  sea  in  doubtful  weather  with  the  assurance 
of  finding  ample  protection  at  the  Delaware  Capes  if  overtaken  by  storm. 


144 


The  Port  of  Philadelphia 

IN  RECENT  legislation  for  the  improvement  of  rivers  and  harbors 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States  has  shown  a  disposition  to  take 
into  consideration  the  amount  that  the  localities  themselves  are 
expending  for  improvement,  and  to  provide  more  liberally  where  cities 
or  States  are  manifesting  their  interest  by  appropriating  money  for  the 
work. 

Recognizing  the  soundness  of  this  policy,  the  city  of  Philadelphia 
has  already  embarked  upon,  and  is  planning  to  provide  liberally  for,  a 
broad  scheme  of  harbor  improvement.  In  the  past,  both  city  and  State 
have  aided  in  meeting  the  cost  of  Delaware  channel  work,  and  the  new 
comprehensive  plan  contemplates  a  large  increase  in  the  port  facilities 
by  city  appropriation. 

There  has  recently  been  completed  a  new  municipal  pier  at  Vine 
Street  on  the  Delaware  River,  known  as  No.  19,  North  Wharves.  This 
is  the  most  modern  of  the  piers  on  the  Delaware  and  Schuylkill  rivers ; 
it  is  571  feet  long  and  166  feet  wide,  and  is  of  the  open  type,  resting  on 
piles.  From  the  level  of  2  feet  lo^i  inches  above  low  water,  the  sub- 
structure consists  of  reinforced  concrete,  which  makes  it  a  permanent 
structure.  The  lower  or  main  deck  is  of  reinforced  concrete  resting  on 
steel  beams,  paved  with  wood  blocks.  The  surface  of  this  deck  at  the 
sides  of  the  pier  is  13.5  feet  above  mean  low  water. 

The  superstructure  is  double  deck,  the  first  deck  having  a  height 
of  20  feet  and  >4  inch  from  deck  to  lower  side  of  girders ;  the  upper  deck 
having  a  height  of  16  feet  and  >^  inch  from  deck  to  lower  chord  of  roof 
truss.  The  superstructure  is  entirely  of  reinforced  concrete  and  steel, 
faced  with  copper  on  the  outshore  and  inshore  ends,  thus  making  the 
entire  structure  fireproof.  There  are  three  towers  on  the  pier — the  one 
on  the  river  or  outer  end  has  a  height  of  112  feet  above  the  street  level, 
and  the  two  on  the  inshore  end  have  a  height  of  100  feet  above  the  street 
level.  The  street  level  in  that  vicinity  is  11  feet  above  mean  low  water. 
The  construction  of  this  pier  cost  $684,774.90,  and  the  purchase  of 
additional  land  $302,000,  making  a  total  cost  of  $986,774.90. 

On  August  3,  191 1,  a  contract  was  awarded  for  the  removal  of  old 

145 


Peiiiisxhaiiia  and  Its  Manifold  Acih'itics 


BALDWIN    LOCOMOTIVE    WORKS,    I'HILADELPHIA.       tkbA  11  Xu    SHUP 
146 


The  Port  of  Philadelphia 

piers  and  obstructions  from  the  site  of  a  proposed  new  pier  and  bulkhead 
at  the  foot  of  Dock  Street,  Delaware  River,  which  work  was  completed 
under  date  of  December  29,  191 1,  at  a  cost  of  $29,400. 

On  November  21,  191 1,  a  contract  was  awarded  for  the  construction 
of  a  pier  and  bulkhead  at  the  foot  of  Dock  Street,  Delaware  River,  for 
the  sum  of  $279,500.  This  pier  will  be  120  feet  wide  and  570  feet  long, 
of  open  type,  resting  on  piles ;  the  superstructure  to  consist  of  one- 
story  freight  shed  and  a  two-story  head-house  for  offices  on  inshore  end. 

The  department  is  now  considering  plans  for  the  construction  of 
two  large  trans-Atlantic  piers  to  be  located  along  the  Delaware  River 
at  some  point  not  yet  decided,  but  which  will  be  in  the  built-up  portion 
of  the  city,  within  one  mile  from  Market  Street.  Contracts  have  recently 
been  made  for  several  pieces  of  bulkhead  construction,  among  them  a 
concrete  bulkhead  along  the  easterly  line  of  Delaware  Avenue,  from 
South  Street  to  Christian  Street  and  from  Callowhill  Street  to  Fairmount 
Avenue  and  Penn  Street,  to  cost  $250,000.  When  this  bulkhead  is  com- 
pleted it  will  widen  Delaware  Avenue,  which  is  the  marginal  commercial 
avenue  of  the  city,  to  its  full  width  of  150  feet  from  Christian  Street 
on  the  south  to  Fairmount  Avenue  on  the  north — a  distance  of  9800  feet. 
The  new  bulkhead  work  will  also  include  improvement  of  the  Schuylkill 
River   front. 

The  city  during  the  years  1910  and  191 1  purchased,  at  a  cost  of 
$249,708,  a  dredging  plant,  which  consists  of:  One  18-inch  hydraulic 
dredge,  one  combination  dredge  (scoop  and  clamshell,  5-yard  bucket), 
one  5 5- foot  tugboat,  one  81 -foot  tugboat,  four  500-cubic-yard  bottom- 
dump  scows,  three  250-cubic-yard  bottom-dump  scows,  one  deck  scow, 
one  deck  and  derrick  scow,  and  fifteen  pontoons. 

During  the  last  four  years  the  Department  of  Wharves,  Docks,  and 
Ferries  has  removed,  by  contract  with  outside  dredging  concerns  and 
its  own  plant,  1,676,367  cubic  yards  of  material  from  the  Delaware  and 
Schuylkill  river-channels,  city  docks,  and  private  docks  where  municipal 
sewers  empty. 

The  present  city  administration  has  declared  in  favor  of  the  expendi- 
ture of  $20,000,000  for  the  improvement  of  harbor  facilities,  and  the 
Department  of  Wharves,  Docks,  and  F^erries  is  now  working  upon  a 
general  plan  of  improvement. 

This  general  scheme  of  improvement  will  place  the  port  of  Phila- 
delphia in  line  with  other  progressive  Atlantic  ports.  The  city  has 
recently  manifested   a  growing  appreciation   of   its   responsibility  in   the 

147 


Pciuisxlz'Giiia  and  Its  Manifold  Actiz'itics 

matter  of  luirbnr  ini])r()venicnt  and  the  extension  of  dock  facilities,  if  it 
is  to  expect  the  Federal  Government  to  proceed  rapidly  with  the  35-foot 
channel  work.  The  Congressional  delegation  in  Congress  is  pressing 
for  increased  appropriation  for  the  channel,  in  order  that  this  great  work 
of  improvement  may  be  completed  at  the  earliest  practicable  day.  In 
the  ])ast.  the  arguments  in  favor  of  channel  deepening  have  been  countered 


SHIPS    AWAITING     DELIVERY,     NEW     YORK     SHIPBUILDING     COMPANY  S     YARDS 

by  the  argument  that  the  improvement  of  port  facilities  should  proceed, 
at  least,  as  rapidly  as  the  work  of  channel  improvement.  The  broad 
plan  of  improvement,  which  is  now  being  shaped  by  the  city  authorities, 
clearly  indicates  that  it  is  the  purpose  of  the  city  of  Philadelphia  to  be 
prepared  for  the  enlarged  commerce  which  will  come  with  the  deepen- 
ing of  the  channel  to  the  sea,  and  to  provide  docking  facilities  for  the 
largest  vessels  that  will  use  the  deeper  channel. 

By  an  Act  of  Assembly  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  approved  the 
eighth  day  of  June,  1907,  there  was  established  in  the  port  of  Philadelphia 
a  Board  of  Commissioners  of  Navigation  for  the  River  Delaware  and 
its  navigable  tributaries.  The  board  consists  of  five  members,  and  the 
Director  of  Wharves,  Docks,  and  Ferries,  who  is  one  of  the  members, 


148 


The  Port  of  Philadelphia 

acts  as  president.  Two  are  appointed  by  the  mayor  of  Philadelphia, 
one  from  the  Maritime  Exchange  of  Philadelphia,  one  from  the  Philadel- 
phia Chamber  of  Commerce,  one  by  the  Councils  of  the  City  of  Chester, 
and  one  by  the  Council  of  the  Borough  of  Bristol. 

The  commissioners  are  empowered  to  "make  rules  for  the  regu- 
lating, stationing,  and  anchoring  of  ships,  vessels,  and  boats  in  the  River 
Delaware  and  its  navigalile  tributaries,  or  at  wharves,  piers,  or  bulkheads, 


WORKS    OF    THE 


)M1'ANV,     PHILADELPHIA 


or  in  the  docks,  slips,  or  basins  extending  into  or  on  the  said  river  and 
the  navigable  tributaries ;  for  removing,  from  time  tp  time,  ships,  vessels, 
and  boats,  in  order  to  accommodate  and  make  room  for  others,  or  for 
admitting  river  craft  to  pass  in  and  out  of  docks,  slips,  and  basins,  and 
for  compelling  the  masters  and  captains  of  ships,  vessels,  and  boats  to 
accommodate  each  other,  so  that  ships,  vessels,  and  boats  shall  for  a 
reasonable  time  be  entitled  to  berths  next  to  the  wharves,  piers,  and 
bulkheads  until  they  have  landed  or  loaded  their  cargoes." 

The  board  has  power  to  make  surveys  and  soundings  to  ascertain 
the  capacity  of  the  river  and  its  navigable  tributaries  for  commercial 
purposes,  and  to  prepare  plans  therefrom  and  to  keep  reports  thereof. 
It  has  power  to  establish  bulkhead  and  pierhead  lines  and  the  distance 
between  piers,  subject  to  the  regulations  of  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment ;  to  adopt  and  promulgate  rules  and  regulations  for  the  construction, 
extension,  alteration,  improvement,  and  repair  of  wharves,  piers,  bulk- 
heads, etc.,  outside  the  limits  of  the  city  of  Philadelphia.  It  is  also 
vested  with  power  to  grant  licenses  for  the  extension  of  wharves,  piers. 


149 


Peiuisyl-i'cniia  and  Its  Manifold  Activities 

or  oilier  liarbor  structures,  or  building  in  the  nature  of  a  wharf  or  harbor 
structure,  outside  the  limits  of  the  city  of  Philadelphia.  The  board  has 
full  power  to  grant  licenses  to  persons  to  act  as  pilots  in  the  Bay  and 
River  Delaware,  and  to  make  rules  for  their  government  while  employed 
in  that  service;  to  decide,  on  application  of  parties  in  interest,  all  differ- 
ences which  may  arise  between  masters,  owners,  and  consignees  of  ships 
or  vessels,  and  pilots,  and  to  make,  ordain  and  publish  rules  and  regula- 
tions. They  may  impose  such  penalties  for  the  breach  thereof  in  respect 
of  the  masters  aforesaid  as  they  shall  deem  fitting  and  proper. 

Upon  the  creation  of  the  Board  of  Commissioners  of  Navigation, 
the  Board  of  Wardens  for  the  Port  of  Philadelphia  and  the  offices  of 
the  Harbor  Master  and  the  Master  Warden  of  the  Port  of  Philadelphia 
were  abolished,  and  the  functions  (excepting  the  granting  of  licenses  for 
the  construction  of  wharves,  etc.,  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia)  of  the 
three  offices  above  mentioned  were  vested  in  the  new  board. 

Under  the  new^  project  for  the  35-foot  channel  in  the  Delaware 
River,  it  is  provided  that,  in  order  to  permit  free  anchorage  and  move- 
ment of  vessels  in  the  harbor  of  Philadelphia,  the  channel  shall  have  a 
width  of  1000  feet  in  front  of  the  city.  The  anchorage  areas  in  Phila- 
delphia harbor  are  at  League  Island,  Greenwich  Point,  Cooper  Point, 
and  Port  Richmond.  In  order  to  accommodate  the  commerce  of  the 
city  of  Camden,  one  of  the  principal  features  of  which  is  a  large 
lumber  trade,  it  is  proposed  to  dredge  a  channel  15  feet  deep  along  the 
business  jDortiun  i)f  the  city  front  where  such  depth  does  not  already 
exist. 


150 


Lake  Erie  and  Ohio  River  Ship  Canal 

INSISTENCE  upon  internal  waterway  development  along  broad  lines 
is  strikingly  manifested  in  the  demand  of  the  manufacturing  interests 
in  western  Pennsylvania  for  a  ship  canal  that  will  float  the  ore  of 
the  Lake  Superior  region  down  from  Lake  Erie  to  this  constantly 
expanding  center  of  industry. 

Several  rail  lines  now  transport  this  ore.  Lito  the  Pittsburgh  region 
in  1910  there  moved  41,517,641  tons  of  ore,  while  a  tonnage  of  more 
than  18,000,000  tons  of  soft  coal  moved  outward  from  the  mines  of 
Pennsylvania.  As  this  tonnage  has  grown,  there  has  been  found  the 
need  of  greater  and  still  greater  transportation  facilities.  To-day  the 
United  States  Steel  Corporation  has  its  own  road,  the  Bessemer  and 
Lake  Erie,  while  each  of  the  other  lines  that  connect  the  district  with 
the  lakes  carries  a  large  volume  of  ore  tonnage. 

The  route  of  the  Lake  Erie  and  Ohio  River  Ship  Canal  as  proposed 
is  from  Pittsburgh  north  and  west  through  the  wonderful  commercial 
district  of  the  Beaver  Valley  to  Pennsylvania  State  line ;  thence  through 
Ohio  to  Ashtabula  on  Lake  Erie.  The  length  of  the  canal  as  proposed  is 
103  miles.  The  route  is  practically  a  straight  line  between  the  points  where 
the  Ohio  River  and  Lake  Erie  come  nearest  together.  One-half  the 
distance,  or  about  fifty  miles,  consists  of  rivers  whose  canalization  presents 
no  insurmountable  engineering  difficulty  and  few  difficult  problems.  The 
route  crosses  at  the  lowest  divide  of  any  feasible  route  between  lake  and 
river. 

The  proposed  dimensions  of  the  canal  are : 

Reaver  River  /Bottom  width    175   feet 

Bearer  Kuer  |  Minimum  depth    13      " 


]\Iahoning  River 


(  Bottom  width    150 

i  Minimum  depth    13 

rSurface  width   177 

Canal  proper Bottom  width    131 

( Minimum   depth    13 

TAvailable  length   360 

Lock  dimensions  .  .  .  .  ■  Width    56 

I^Over  lock  sills,  deptli 12 

Locks  to  be  built  to  allow  a  depth  of  15  feet  when  desired. 


Pennsylvania  and  Its  Manifold  Activities 

Iiiil)()rtanl  to  the  commercial  interests  of  the  western  part  of  tlic 
State  as  this  canal  is  held  to  be,  and  though  it  is  declared  by  engineers 
to  be  entirely  feasible,  a  number  of  years  have  elapsed  since  the  agitation 
for  the  undertaking  was  begun,  and  as  yet  the  work  is  not  started.  This 
delay  bears  a  parallel  to  that  which  preceded  the  inauguration  of  the 
intracoastal  waterway  chain  along  the  Atlantic  seaboard. 


DAIQUIRI    IRON     MINE,    CUBA.      ORE    SHIPPED    TO    PENNSYLVANIA 

A  commission,  appointed  by  the  Legislature  as  early  as  1889,  surveyed 
the  proposed  route  of  the  canal,  considered  the  project  in  all  its  bearings, 
and  declared  it  to  be  entirely  feasible.  Six  years  later  a  committee  of 
the  Pittsburgh  Chamber  of  Commerce  made  a  further  exhaustive  exam- 
ination into  the  canal  project,  and  pronounced  it  to  be  practicable  and  a 
commercial  necessity.  However,  the  next  step  was  delayed  ten  years 
until  in  May,  1905,  a  charter  was  granted  to  the  Lake  Erie  and  Ohio 
River  Ship  Canal  Company.  A  national  charter  was  granted  by  act  of 
Congress  a  year  afterward.  In  June,  191 1,  Lieut.  Col.  H.  C.  New- 
comer, of  the  United  States  Corps  of  Engineers,  stationed  at  Pittsburgh, 
made  a  report  in  which  he  expressed  the  opinion  that  the  project  is 
practicable  and  of  sufficient  national  importance  to  justify  the  Govern- 
ment's co-operating  with  local  interests  to  provide  the  necessary  funds 
and  also  to  superintend  the  construction  and  operation  of  the  canal. 

This  important  step  in  the  canal  movement  was  followed  in  19 10 
by  action  taken  liy  the  Legislatures  of  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  and  West 
Virginia,  all  of  which  passed  laws  authorizing  counties  in  the  States 
bordering  on  the  canal,  or  contiguous  to  the  lake  and  navigable  river 
termini  of  the  canal,  to  issue  bonds  for  its  construction. 


152 


Lake  Erie  and  Ohio  River  Ship  Canal 


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w 

^  ^ 

3 

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rt 

It 

153 


Pennsyh'ania  and  Its  Manifold  Activities 

Doubtless  the  dissatisfaction  of  many  Pittsburgh  interests  with  the 
railroad  freight  rates  to  the  lake  has  had  much  to  do  with  the  continued 
demand  for  the  opening  of  the  canal.  While  the  Pittsburgh  rate  is  as 
low  as,  or  lower  than,  the  rates  from  the  several  West  Virginia  districts, 
the  ton-mile  rate  is  considerably  higher  than  from  other  important  fields. 
That  this  is  a  factor  in  the  movement  is  shown  by  the  following  figures 
prepared  and  published  by  those  who  are  interested  in  the  canal  propo- 
sition : 

Rail  Toll  Canal  I'ree  Canal  Toll  Canal  Free  Canal 

Rate  Rate  Rate  Saving  Saving 

Per  Ton  Per  Ton  Per  Ton  Per  Ton  Per  Ton 

Ore     $1.25  $0.60  $0.25  $0.65  $1.00 

Coal    97  -49  -19  48  .78 

Average     $1.11  $0.54  $0.22  $0.56  $0.89 

An  idea  of  the  extent  of  the  tonnage  which  the  canal  would  accom- 
motlate  is  given  by  the  following  existing  tonnage  movement : 

Total  Tons  Iron  Ore  Soft  Coal 

1906  75,609,649  36,872,508  14,488,240 

1907  83,498,171  40,727,972  17,445,540 

1908  60,518,024  24,939,185  14,681,911 

1909  80,974,605  40,732,677  15,652,293 

1910  86,732,316  41,517,641  18,406,469 

Under  the  latest  proposition  for  the  opening  of  the  canal,  the  United 
States  Government  is  asked  only  to  supervise  the  construction ;  while  it 
is  proposed  that  the  counties  interested  shall  issue  bonds,  the  part  to  be 
borne  by  each  individual  county  to  be  based  upon  the  estimated  benefit 
which  it  will  derive  from  the  improvement.  The  question  of  canal 
depth  has  been  debated  just  as  the  question  of  dimensions  of  canals  was 
debated  three-quarters  of  a  century  ago.  The  private  interests  that  have 
fathered  the  cause  of  the  canal  advocate  a  12- foot  depth,  but  they  are  met, 
as  were  the  early  canal  pioneers,  by  arguments  on  the  part  of  those  who 
would  restrict  it  to  nine  feet. 

The  total  cost  of  a  12-foot  depth,  which  would  accommodate  2000- 
ton  barges,  is  $60,000,000.  It  is  estimated  that  the  canal  would  have 
traffic  amounting  to  15,000,000  tons  a  year  before  it  had  been  in  operation 
four  years.  It  is  further  estimated  that  on  this  tonnage  the  canal  could 
make  rates  that  would  easily  carry  the  interest  on  the  bond  issue  required 
for  its  construction,  and  that  these  rates  would  mean  a  substantial  saving 
to  shippers. 

As  reasons  why  the  National  Government  should  co-operate  in  the 
construction  of  the  canal,  the  following  have  been  urged :  First,  the  canal 


154 


Lake  Eric  and  Ohio  Rizrr  Shif^  Canal 

forms  the  link  connecting  the  Great  Lakes  and  tributary  canals  with  the 
interior  river  system  of  the  country  directly  at  the  point  where  there  is 
an  existing  tonnage  niovement  larger  than  in  any  similar  area  in  the 
world.  Second,  the  Panama  Canal  and  the  Erie  Canal  across  New  York 
State  are  soon  to  be  opened.  The  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Oceans,  (iulf  of 
Mexico,  (ireat  Lakes,  and  interior  ri\er  systems  of  the  country  will  be 


JUNCTION    OF    ALLEGHENY    AND    MONONGAHELA    RIVERS 

united,  and  an  unbroken  waterway  connection  between  twenty-seyen 
States  and  Canada,  providing  competitive  rail  and  water  rates  for  the 
benefit  of  interstate  and  foreign  commerce  will  be  established. 

The  fact  that  the  Federal  Government  is  now  committed  to  the 
scheme  of  improvement  of  canals  inside  the  Atlantic  seaboard,  and  that 
government  engineers  have  made  a  favorable  report  on  the  feasibility 
of  a  cut  across  New  Jersey  and  a  deep-draught  canal  across  the  Dela- 
ware peninsula  has  lent  new  courage  to  those  who  have  urged  the  Lake 
Erie  and  Ohio  River  Ship  Canal.  It  is  pointed  out  that  the  classes  of 
freight  that  move  between  Pittsburgh,  New  Castle,  and  the  Lakes  are 
classes  that  may  profitably  be  transported  in  barges.  It  is  urged  that  if 
there  is  one  district  in  the  country  where  a  deep  barge  canal  would  prove 


155 


Pennsyh'ania  and  Its  Manifold  Activities 

its  practicaliility  it  is  in  this  territory,  where  an  enormous  amount  of  ore 
moves  southward  from  the  Great  Lakes,  passing,  as  it  moves,  the  north- 
bound coal   from  the  western   Pennsylvania  mines. 

The  most  hopeful  step  thus  far  taken  toward  the  beginning  of  this 
project,  is  the  report  submitted  by  the  National  Waterways  Commission, 
which  recommends  that  the  National  Government  co-operate  in  the  work. 

The  commission  is  of  the  opinion  that  the  main  question  to  be  con- 
sidered in  reaching  a  conclusion  as  to  the  feasibility  of  the  proposed 
canal  is  what  part  of  this  traffic  it  can  reasonably  be  expected  to  obtain 
in  competition  with  the  railways  now  operating  in  the  same  territory. 
The  calculations  made  in  1905  give  3,000,000  tons  as  the  probable  traffic 
for  the  first  year  of  operation,  22,500,000  for  the  fifth  year,  and 
38,000,000  for  the  tenth  year.  There  are  a  number  of  considerations,  the 
commission  believes,  which  would  indicate  that  these  estimates  are  prob- 
ably too  high.  It  declares  that  in  order  to  successfully  compete  with  the 
railways  the  canal  must  offer  cheaper  transportation,  except  when  there 
is  an  excess  of  traffic.  The  cost  of  transportation  on  the  proposed  canal 
is  estimated  at  1.58  mills  per  ton-mile,  which,  with  the  tolls  proposed 
to  be  charged,  would  make  the  total  cost  about  3  mills  per  ton-mile. 
This,  the  commission  holds,  would  undoubtedly  give  the  canal  the  required 
advantage  over  the  competing  railways  if  the  present  rates,  which  are 
generally  considered  to  be  high,  amounting  to  about  8.5  mills  per  ton-mile 
for  iron  ore  and  6.8  mills  per  ton-mile  for  coal,  were  maintained  after 
the  canal  was  opened.  "It  may  be  confidently  expected,  however,"  the 
commission  says,  "that  the  railroads  will  make  substantial  reductions  from 
the  present  high  rates  whenever  they  are  not  operating  to  their  full 
capacity,  in  an  efifort  to  keep  traffic  from  being  diverted  to  the  waterway, 
and  every  reduction  in  their  rates  will  lessen  the  advantages  of  the  canal. 
Some  idea  of  the  point  below  which  the  railroads  could  not  profitably 
reduce  their  rates  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  the  cost  of  shipping  ore  on 
the  Bessemer  and  Lake  Erie  Railroad,  which  is  owned  by  the  United 
States  Steel  Corporation  and  operated  as  a  bulk  freight  road  from  Pitts- 
burgh to  Conneaut  on  the  Lake,  is  stated  to  be  about  2.8  mills  per  ton- 
mile,  and  the  cost  of  hauling  coal  in  full-train  loads  on  the  Pittsburgh 
and  Lake  Erie  Railroad,  which  the  canal  would  parallel  for  most  of  its 
length,  according  to  estimates  made  by  Frank  Lyon,  attorney  for  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission,  is  less  than  2  mills  per  ton-mile. 

"Several  cases  involving  the  fairness  of  these  coal  rates  from  the 
Pittsburgh  district  to  the  Lake  Erie  ports  iiave  recently  been  considered 

156 


Lake  Eric  ami  Oliio  River  Siiip  Canal 

by  the  Interstate  Coninierce  Commission  and  reductions  amounting  to  lo 
cents  a  ton  ordered.  The  complaint  investigated  was  that  these  rates 
were  unreasonably  high  in  comparison  with  the  West  Virginia  coal  rates, 
some  of  which  average  less  than  3  mills  per  ton-mile.  The  railways 
competing  with  the  proposed  canal  will  doubtless  be  restrained  from 
making  excessive  reductions  in  their  rates  by  the  provision  of  the  Mann- 


PIG-IRON    STOREYARD 


Elkins  Act  of  1910,  which  prohibits  railroads  lowering  their  rates  in 
competition  with  a  waterway  from  raising  them  again  until  after  hearing 
by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  This  provision  was  inserted 
in  accordance  with  the  recommendation  of  the  National  Waterways  Com- 
mission in  its  preliminary  report,  the  purpose  of  which  was  to  [)revent  the 
elimination  of  water  competition  by  unfair  means." 

In  view  of  the  great  benefits  which  would  result  from  the  construc- 
tion of  this  waterway,  the  commission  believes  that  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment is  justified  in  co-operating  with  the  localities  which  are  to  furnish 
the  funds,  to  the  extent  of  building  the  approaches  to  the  canal  and  of 
lending  them  the  Army  engineers  to  perform  the  engineering  work  neces- 
sary for  its  construction.     The  commission  accordingly  recommends  that 


157 


Peiinsylcvnia  and  Its  Manifold  Activities 

when  $10,000,000  is  available  in  cash,  and  bonds  to  the  amount  of 
$50,000,000,  or  as  much  more  as  is  necessary  in  the  opinion  of  the 
Secretary  of  War  to  insure  completion  of  the  canal,  have  been  authorized, 
and  the  legality  of  such  bonds  has  been  certified  by  competent  legal 
authority,  the  Secretary  of  War  shall  direct  the  Chief  of  Engineers  to 
detail,  without  charge  for  services,  such  ofificers  from  the  Corps  of  Engi- 
neers as  he  shall  deem  necessary  to  perform  the  engineering  work  neces- 
sary for  the  construction  of  the  proposed  canal.  The  commission  further 
recommends  that  when  the  work  of  constructing  the  canal  has  actually 
begun.  Congress,  if  satisfied  that  it  will  be  completed,  shall  appropriate 
the  funds  necessary  for  an  adequate  harbor  in  Indian  Creek  at  the  Lake 
Erie  end,  and  for  the  necessary  improvement  of  the  Ohio  River  in  the 
Pittsburgh  district,  the  same  to  be  completed  by  the  time  the  canal  shall 
be  ready  for  operation.  It  is  held,  however,  that  the  Government  should 
not  be  required  to  purchase  any  land  in  making  these  improvements. 
The  plan  of  co-operation  proposed  by  the  commission  is  intended  to 
leave  the  canal  essentially  a  local  enterprise,  and  the  recommendations 
for  the  co-operation  of  the  Federal  Government  in  constructing  this 
waterway  are  not,  the  commission  states,  to  be  construed  as  committing 
or  obligating  the  Government  to  assume  financial  responsibility  for  con- 
struction, maintenance,  or  operation. 


158 


THE  INDUSTRIES 

OF 

PENNSYLVANIA 


GEORGE   E.    BARTOL 

Chairman  Transportation 
Committee 


WII.I'RED  H.   SCHOFF 

Cliairman   Publications  CLINTON  ROGERS  WOODRUFF 

Committee  Vice-Chairman  Press  Committee 


An  Industrial  Commonwealth 

^  MONG  the  States  of  the  Union,  Pennsylvania  is  the  oldest  and 
/\  youngest  of  industrial  Commonwealths.  Oldest,  in  that  within  its 
X  ^  borders  more  branches  of  manufacture  have  been  carried  forward 
generation  after  generation,  than  in  any  other  State.  Youngest  in  that, 
with  the  vigor  of  youth,  it  is  putting  forth  each  year  something  new  in 
the  field  of  industry.    Here  are  the  oldest  industries  in  the  country.   Here, 


IMMENSE    COKE    OVENS,    JONES    &    LAUGHLIN    COMPANY,    PITTSBURGH 

too,  are  new,  vigorous  branches  of  industrial  endeavor  that  have  sprung 
up  within  a  decade.  While  the  development  of  the  steel  industry  is  the 
greatest  single  chapter  in  the  industrial  history  of  Pennsylvania,  it  is  but 
one  of  many  that  make  this  history  the  most  remarkable  of  that  of  the 
western  hemisphere.  Statistics  show  that  there  are  in  Pennsylvania 
27,563  industrial  establishments,  operating  with  an  aggregate  capital   of 


161 


Pcinisylz'ania  ami  Its  Maiiifold  .Ictivitics 

$2,749,006,000,  and  luniiiii,^  out  ])r(j(lucts,  in  the  last  census  year,  in  excess 
of  $2,626,000,000. 

A  comparison  of  the  statistics  for  I'ennsylvania  witli  those  for  the 
other  States  shows  its  industrial  importance.  There  was  but  one  other 
State — New  York — that  exceeded  it  in  total  value  of  production,  and 
renns\l\ania  and   New   \\)rk  were  the  only  two  that  went  Ijcvond   the 


HOT    RAILS    ON    THE    COOLING    FRAMES 

two-billion  mark.  Illinois,  however,  was  close  to  that  mark,  while  Massa- 
chusetts ranked  fourth.  In  the  amount  of  capital  New  York  and  Penn- 
sylvania are  about  the  same.  In  the  amount  of  power  used  Pennsylvania 
leads,  with  2,921,547  horsepower,  followed  by  New  York,  with  a  million 
less,  or  1,997,669.  It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  industries  of  Pennsyl- 
vania are  of  such  a  nature  as  to  require  more  power  than  those  of  New 
York.  This  is  due  largely  to  the  fact  that  Pennsylvania  is  the  most 
important  State  in  the  metal  industries.  In  diversity  of  manufacture 
Pennsylvania  is  excelled  by  none  of  the  States. 

The  summary  for  the  State  shows  increases  in  all  the  items  for  the 
census  of  1909  as  compared  with  the  census  of  1904.  There  was  a 
substantial    increase    in    the    number    of    manufacturing    establishments, 


162 


.//;  I  Jtd  list  rial  Conimoiiz^'calth 


which  advanced  from  23,495  to  27,563.  an  increase  of  17  per  cent.     The 
following  table  shows  the  increases : 

Number  of  establishments 23,495  27,5(33  17 

Capital    $1,995,837,000  $2,749,006,000  38 

Cost  of  materials   $1,142,943,000  $1,582,560,000  38 

Salaries  and  wages    $441,230,000  $566,524,000  28 

Miscellaneous  expenses   $167,267,000  $206,301,000  23 

\'alue  of  products   $1,955,551,000  $2,626,742,000  34 

Value   added  by  manufacture    $812,608,000  $1,044,182,000  28 

Officials  and  clerks  66,081  94,885  44 

Wage   earners    763,282  877,543  15 


A   ROW   OF   COKE   OVENS    NEAR   PITTSBURGH 

These  figures  are  for  "establishments"  as  defined  by  the  thirteenth 
census  as  follows :  One  or  more  factories,  mills,  or  plants  owned,  con- 
trolled, or  operated  by  a  person,  partnership,  corporation,  or  other  owner 
located  in  the  same  town  or  city,  and  for  which  one  set  of  books  of 
account  is  kept. 

The  thirteenth  census,  like  that  of  the  year  1904,  differs  from  the 
census  of  1900,  with  reference  to  manufactures,  in  that  the  two  later 
censuses  excluded  the  hand  and  the  building  trades  and  the  neighborhood 
industries,  and  took  account  only  of  establishments  conducted  under  the 
factory  system.  The  totals  given  for  Pennsylvania  do  not  include  steam 
laundries.  Of  these  there  were  385,  having  a  capital  of  $6,685,000.  The 
cost  of  materials  used  was  $1,450,000  and  the  value  of  products 
$8,332,000;  the  average  number  of  wage-earners  employed  during  the 
year,  9639. 

According  to  the  figures  of  the  State  Department  of  Internal  Afifairs 
there  were  151  dififerent  branches  of  manufacture  that  reported  to  that 


163 


Pennsylvania  and  Its  Manifold  Actii'itics 

(lepartnicnl  for  the  year  1910.  Wliilc  this  differs  somewhat  from  the 
census  figures  and  cannot  be  taken  as  showing-  all  of  the  industries  in 
the  Commonwealth,  it  gives  a  fairly  accurate  understanding  of  the  extent 
of  the  various  lines  of  manufacture  and  the  number  of  establishments. 
Of  these  varied  lines  of  manufacture,  each  of  the  following  had  a  pro- 
duction valued  in  excess  of  $10,000,000: 


Market  Value  Number  of 


Number  of 

Character  of  Industries                                   Establishments         ^,  Production  Wage  Earners 

Considered 

Anthracite  coal  mined 115  $157,123,658  165,634 

Bituminous  coal   874  146,353,044  184,083 

Iron  and  steel — rolled  into  tinished  form.    130  487,416,059  130,324 

Iron  and  steel — ingots  and  castings 33  22,145,148  ii,342 

Pig  iron    64  178,368,577  16,778 

Tin   plate    20  34-955,505  10,701 

Boilers,  tanks  and  vats    41  10,330,556  3,455 

Boots  and  shoes  109  20,052,795  10,690 

Carpets  and  rugs   79  27,1 1 1,459  12,491 

Cars  and  car  wheels  20  75,177,349  18,542 

Castings    84  12,869,839  7,263 

Cement    26  20,135,069  10,924 

Cotton  goods  74  33,834,547  12,130 

Confectionery    60  18,624,144  6,635 

Drugs  and  chemicals    39  25,584,262  5,470 

Engines  and  boilers    31  17,969,074  5,835 

Electrical  supplies    23  32,085,514  12,261 

Furniture    102  19,086,048  7,985 

Glass,  plate    16  10,211,661  5,775 

Hats   39  15,455,51 1  8,316 

Hosiery   188  29,896,650  24,777 

Iron  and  steel  bridges   9  21,629.383  5,820 

Leather — enameled  and  glazed  kid   17  25,906,171  5,261 

Leather— sole  35  I4,037,557  2,336 

Machinery    I37  35,940,371  16,716 

Machine  tools    52  12,359,000  4,975 

Oil — crude  and  refined  31  50,209,958  5,770 

Paints,  white  lead,  etc 27  17,362,834  1,826 

Paper   mills    36  21,771.362  6,451 

Pipes  and  tubing   25  22,356.370  6,700 

Railroad  supplies   14  22,148,032  6,509 

Shirts     96  11.541.203  9,046 

Silk     185  59.661.962  33,505 

Steam  and  electric  locomotives 11  49,633,229  36,214 

Sugar  refining  2  48,915,778  i,43S 

Tanneries    66  41,255,205  5,880 

Woolen  goods   42  10,488,593  4,7" 

Yarn    86  35,074,763  12,470 

It  is  to  be  noted  that  this  tabulation  makes  no  mention  of  the  print- 
ing business,  which  is  rated  among  the  first  ten  industries  in  value  of 

production.  It  is  natural  that  a  State  which  was  the  home  of  Benjamin 
Franklin  should  excel  in  the  character  of  its  ])rinting.  and  in  this  industry 
Penns\lvania  takes  high  rank  both  in  volume  and  qualit\-  of  product. 

164 


An  Industrial  Coiniiioirwealth 

The    other    lines    of    manufacture,    with    the    aggregate  production 
(1909)  in  each  line  follows: 

Anthracite  coal  washed   $3,096,050 

Agricultural   implements    3,822,194 

Alcohol,  acetate  of  lime,  charcoal,  etc 3,762,511 

Aluminum     6,841,792 

Asbestos  product    4,337,354 

Automobiles    5,1 18,764 

Awnings    189,013 

Axes  and  edge  tools i  ,890,730 

Axles    and    springs    4,982,472 

Barrels  and  kegs    3,923,078 

Beds,  bed  springs   and   cots 1,792,271 

Blankets,  flannels,  etc 5,357,o82 

Bobbins   and   mill   supplies    518,137 

Bolts,  nuts  and  rivets   5,866,058 

Braids,   tapes   and  bindings    5,284,882 

Brass    castings     6,877,975 

Brooms    657,608 

Buttons,  thread,  hooks  and  eyes   2  841,051 

Caskets  and  undertaker's  supplies    2,519,439 

Chains    1,555,785 

Chandeliers  and  gas  fixtures   1,525,491 

Cigar  boxes    1,651,726 

Cold   rolled   steel   pulleys   and   shafting 9,949,177 

Copper  and  bronze  castings   2,789,864 

Cordage,  ropes  and  twine 5.264,763 

Cork    6,152,768 

Corsets     747,315 

Cutlery  1,284,976 

Curtains    6,943,088 

Curled  hair  and  glue   5,721,277 

Dental,   surgical  and  optical   supplies    3,700,587 

Dyeing,    bleaching    and    finishing 7,429,396 

Embroideries  and   handkerchiefs    2,707,500 

Enamel  and  electric  signs    593,305 

Enamel   and  galvanized  ware 917,863 

Fence   railings   and   wire   goods 5,269,040 

Fertilizers     5,025,143 

Foundries    9,461,662 

Gas  and  gasolii  e   en  : n-  es 5  072,996 

Gas  mantles   234,112 

Gas  meters   4,098,098 

Glass,  cut    1,545,872 

Glass  bottles    9,438,955 

Glass,   decorative    2,194.051 

Glass,    tableware     4,129,206 

Glass,    windows    7,641,979 

Glass,   stained    194,023 

Glass,    sand    797,769 

Gloves  and  mittens    722,190 

Hair   cloth    1,312,429 

Hats   and   caps    617,519 

Hardware   specialties    7,511,200 

Iron  and  steel  f  orgings 5,5.^0  663 

Iron  and  sheet  metal  4,762.511 

165 


Pciiusylz'aiiia  and  Its  Manifold  Actiz'itics 

Knit  goods   $1,154,644 

Lace  goods  2,310,631 

Ladies'    skirts    3.284,346 

Lamps  and  chimneys    2,688,952 

Leather,  miscellaneous   2,369,341 

Leather,    harness    1,056,057 

Mattresses  668,973 

Mantles,  tile   and  brick    1,003,992 

Mine    supplies    2,391,587 

Mine  squibs    1/1,341 

Musical    instruments     1,544,629 

Neckwear    2,092,878 

Oil  cloth  and  window  shades    4,810,519 

Oil  well  supplies    2,171,022 

Overalls     797,525 

Packing   boxes    and    patterns    4,676,784 

Paper  bags  and  shipping  tags    1,619,437 

Paper    boxes    6,446,424 

Pickles,   preserves   and   canned   goods    7,811,377 

Picture   frames   and  veneers    594,508 

Planing'  mills,   building   material    7,230,778 

Plumber's    supplies    4,225,1 10 

Pottery  dishes  and  porcelain  ware 3,550,219 

Powder   and   high   explosives    5,423,376 

Pumps    and   valves    5,768,956 

Radiators   and   steam    fittings    3,630,639 

Refrigerators 2,855,255 

Regalias,   flags   and   sporting   goods    3,240,785 

Rubber    goods     5,166,805 

Safes,   vaults   and   locks    2,1 19,366 

Saws   and   files    1,609,031 

Scales   and   separators    764,828 

Shirts  and   shirtwaists    6,392,467 

Shovels,  scoops  and   spades    1,367,665 

Shoddy  and  waste    1,147,115 

Showcases  and  store  fixtures  190,519 

Skylights    and    cornices     1,357,095 

Slate     3,842,362 

Soap     8,973,649 

Stationery    and    engraving    5,504,865 

Steamships   and   launches    6.913,697 

Stoves,   heaters  and  ranges    8,697,023 

Structural   iron    8,265,880 

Suspenders   2,088,321 

Terra  cotta  pipe,  etc 750,885 

Tin  ware  and  stamped  ware   3,608,630 

Towels   1,639,136 

Trunks  and  suit  cases   1,639,284 

Turbine   and   water   wheels    1,668,379 

Typewriters    and    supplies    2.569,756 

Umbrellas    and   parasols    4,855.725 

Underwear    5,749,886 

Upholstery    6.532,051 

Ventilators,  elevators   and   fire   escapes    2.267,932 

Wagons  and  carriages    6,993.022 

Wall    paper    3.625.458 

Watches,  clocks  and  jewelry   3.798,180 

Wood  novelties  2,292,861 

166 


The  State's  Steel-Making  History 

FROM  the  raw  material — the  iron  ore  which  comes  into  Pennsylvania 
from  the  Lake  Superior  ranges,  from  Cuba,  from  Sweden,  and  from 
other  iron  districts — the  first  step  toward  the  production  of  finished 
products  is,  of  course,  the  making  of  pig  iron.  While  Pennsylvania  still 
provides  a  part  of  the  ore  that  supplies  the  many  blast  furnaces  that  turn 
out  the  pig  iron  supply,  this  is  to-day  a  small  part  of  the  total  amount  of 
ore  handled  by  the  furnaces  within  the  State. 

In  the  early  days,  as  has  been  stated,  the  smelting  of  ore  was  accom- 
plished with  charcoal,  and  in  those  days  proximity  to  forests  and  to  ore 
were  the  requisites  for  the  production  of  iron.  Then  came  the  day  when 
anthracite  coal  was  discovered  and  when  it  was  ascertained  that  it  could 
be  used  in  the  smelting  of  ore.  This  caused  the  blast-furnace  development 
in  the  Lehigh  region.  But  when  coke  made  from  bituminous  coal  was 
found  to  be  the  best  blast-furnace  fuel,  the  industry  speedily  moved 
farther  and  farther  west  into  the  bituminous  fields.  With  the  decline  of 
the  Lehigh  Valley  in  this  industry  has  come  the  great  advance  of  the 
Pittsburgh  district. 

The  total  production  of  pig  iron  in  the  United  States  in  1910  was 
27,303,567  tons,  of  the  value  of  $425,115,235;  and  of  this  amount,  Penn- 
sylvania alone  produced  11,272,323  tons  of  a  value  of  $180,695,338.  The 
second  State  in  point  of  production — Ohio — produced  less  than  half  the 
amount  of  Pennsylvania.  Not  only  was  its  production  the  greatest,  but 
the  increase,  from  1909  to  19 10,  was  greater  than  that  of  any  other  State 
in  the  L'nion.  In  1910  Pennsylvania  had  164  blast  furnaces,  which  was 
more  than  twice  the  number  in  Ohio,  three  times  the  number  in  Alabama, 
and  six  times  the  number  in  any  other  State.  The  increase  between 
December  31,  1909,  and  December  31,  1910,  was  61.  The  number  of  blast- 
furnace stacks  in  the  State,   172,  is  almost  double  the  number  in  Ohio. 

Following  the  process  of  pig  iron  production  comes  the  making  of 
steel  by  differing  processes,  and  from  these  initial  steps  the  material 
moves  onward  into  the  thousands  of  manufacturing  plants  in  which  it  is 
shaped  and  formed  into  the  multitude  of  iron  and  steel  products  that  com- 
prise Pennsylvania's  varied  and  extensive  output. 

167 


Pemisylz'aiiia  and  Its  Manifold  Activities 

Ex])criineiUs  in  tlie  making  of  blister  steel  were  carrietl  on  in  New 
England  as  early  as  1655,  more  seriously  in  Connecticut  in  1740,  in  Massa- 
chusetts in  1750,  in  New  York  State  in  1776.  The  industry  on  this  side 
of  the  ocean  was,  however,  discouraged  by  the  British  Government,  on 
the  ground  that  it  competed  with  the  British  industry.  In  1805  Pennsyl- 
vania had  two  steel   furnaces  producing  amiually  150  tons.     In   1810  the 


HARGIXG    AN    OPEN-HEARTH    STEEL  FURNACE 


whole  country  produced  917  tons  of  steel,  531  coming  from  five  Penn- 
sylvania steel  furnaces.  The  industry  died  down  for  many  reasons, 
principally  for  lack  of  proper  crucibles. 

Prior  to  i860  this  country  relied  mainly  upon  England  for  its  steel 
supply.  The  manufacture  of  crucible  steel  had  made  but  slow  progress 
down  to  that  time.  The  credit  of  placing  this  industry  on  a  firm  basis  is 
given  to  Dr.  Curtis  G.  Hussey,  of  Pittsburgh,  wdiose  firm  successfully 
made  crucible  steel  of  the  best  quality  as  a  regular  product  in  i860. 
Bessemer  steel  was  first  made  in  this  country  in  an  experimental  way  at 
Wyandotte,  Mich.,  in  1864,  by  a  company  made  up  largely  of  Pennsyl- 
vanians.  Three  years  later,  the  first  Bessemer  steel  to  be  made  in  this 
State  was  turned  out  at  the  Steelton  plant  of  the  Pennsylvania  Steel 
Company. 


168 


The  State's  Steel-MakiiK/  History 

In  the  Bessemer  process  of  steel  manufacture  streams  of  cold  air  are 
forced  under  pressure  into  a  vessel  called  a  converter,  which  has  been 
partly  filled  with  melted  cast  iron.  In  this  operation  the  oxygen  of  the  air 
combines  with  and  eliminates  the  carbon  and  silicon  in  the  iron.  The 
product  is  thus  decarburized  and  desiliconized.  But,  as  a  certain  amount 
of  carbon  is  always  required  to  produce  steel,  a  definite  quantity  of  man- 


POURIXG   OPEX-HEARTH 


ganiferous  pig  iron — spiegeleisen  or  ferro-manganese — is  added  to  the 
contents  while  they  are  still  in  a  state  of  fusion.  By  this  addition  the 
required  amount  of  carbon  is  obtained,  and  the  manganese  combines  with 
and  liberates  the  oxygen  that  has  united  with  the  iron  during  the  blast. 
The  quality  of  temper  of  the  Bessemer  steel  thus  obtained  depends  upon 
the  character  and  proportions  of  the  materials  used. 

A  distinguishing  feature  of  the  Bessemer  process  consists  in  the  entire 
absence  of  any  fuel  whatever  in  converting  the  already  melted  cast  iron 
into  steel.  The  carbon  and  silicon  in  the  iron  combines  with  the  oxygen 
of  the  atmospheric  blast  and  produces  an  intensely  high  temperature.  The 
Bessemer  converter  holds  from  5  to  20  tons.  The  charge  of  cast  iron 
which  it  receives  preliminary  to  a  conversion  or  blow  is  either  supplied 
directlv  from  a  blast  furnace  or  from  a  cupola  in  which  pig  iron  is  melted. 


169 


Pcinisylz'aiiia  and  Its  Maiiifold  .Ictiiitics 

A  Bessenicr  cdiivcrtcr,  weighing  with  its  Cdiitcnts  from  20  to  40  tons,  is 
moved  on  its  axis  by  machinery  controlled  by  the  touch  of  workmen.  It 
receives,  in  response  to  the  same  touch,  a  blast  so  powerful  that  every 
particle  of  its  manv  tons  of  metallic  contents  is  heated  to  the  highest 
temperature  known  in  the  mechanic  arts. 

In  the  development  of  the  Bessemer  steel  industry  Pennsylvania  has 
been  far  ahead  of  the  other  States.  Its  production  of  Bessemer  ingots 
and  castings  has  decreased  as  its  production  of  open-hearth  ingots  and 
castings  has  increased.  The  Bessemer  production  of  the  State  in  1906 
was  4,827,725  tons,  and  in  that  year  it  easily  led  all  the  States.  In  1910 
the  production  of  the  State  was  2,975,750  tons,  and  it  was  led  by  Ohio. 

The  open-hearth  process  of  steel  manufacture,  of  which  the  Siemens- 
iMartin  furnace  is  the  most  popular  type,  consists  in  melting  pig  iron  in  a 
large  dish-shaped  vessel,  or  reverberatory  furnace,  and  afterward  decar- 
burizing  it  by  adding  wrought  iron,  steel  scrap,  or  iron  ore.  Deficiency  of 
carbon  is  supplied,  as  in  the  Bessemer  process,  by  the  application  of 
spiegeleisen  or  ferro-manganese.  In  this  process  the  steel  is  made  with 
any  percentage  of  carbon  that  may  be  desired.  The  c^uantity  of  steel 
made  at  one  operation,  or  heat,  is  from  5  to  35  tons. 

The  open-hearth  process  produces  as  large  masses  of  steel  as  the 
Bessemer  process,  but  is  much  slower  in  its  operation.  It  possesses,  how- 
ever, the  advantage  over  the  Bessemer  process  that  the  melted  mixture 
may  be  indefinitely  kept  in  a  state  of  fusion  until  experiments  with  small 
portions  determine  the  exact  conditions  necessary  to  produce  a  required 
quality  of  steel. 

While  both  processes  may  be  combined  with  existing  rolling  mills  or 
crucible  steel  works,  the  open-hearth  process  can  perhaps  be  most  eco- 
nomically added  to  such  establishments.  This  is  one  cause  of  its  increas- 
ing popularity.  The  open-hearth  process  is  especially  adapted  to  the 
utilization  of  the  scrap  steel  and  rail  ends  which  accumulate  at  Bessemer 
steel  works.  Naturally,  therefore,  many  open-hearth  furnaces  have  been 
built  in  connection  with  these  works,  both  in  Europe  and  in  the  United 
States.  Another  advantage  of  the  process  is  its  adaptability  to  the  remelt- 
ing  of  worn-out  steel  rails  for  the  production  of  steel  in  other  forms.  A 
popular  use  of  the  open-hearth  process  in  both  Europe  and  America  is 
the  production  of  steel  plates  for  boilers  and  fire-boxes.  On  both  conti- 
nents open-hearth  steel  is  also  largely  used  as  a  substitute  for  iron  in  ship- 
building and  bridge-building.  It  is  also  rapidly  coming  into  use  in  all 
countries  in  the  manufacture  of  all  kinds  of  tools,  and  generally  as  a  com- 

170 


TJic  State's  Stccl-Making  History 

petitor  of  wrought  iron  and  other  kinds  of  steel.  These  two  processes, 
Bessemer  and  open-hearth,  have  increased  the  world's  production  of  steel 
more  than  lOO-fold  in  the  last  thirty-five  years. 

Steel  was  first  made  in  Pennsylvania  by  the  open-hearth  process  in 
1871-72,  and  the  advance  in  this  State  v^as  very  rapid.  In  19 10  the 
production  of  oj^en-hearth   steel   ingots  and  castings  reached  a  total  of 


BESSEMER   CONVERTER,    DUOUESNE    STEEL    WORKS,    CARNEGIE 
STEEL   COMPANY 


10,153,816  tons,  while  Ohio,  the  State  whose  production  was  next  largest, 
produced  but  1,733,409  tons.  In  that  year  Pennsylvania's  production  of 
both  Bessemer  and  open-hearth  steel  was  more  than  two  and  one-half 
times  that  of  Ohio,  the  State  which  stood  next  in  the  list. 

The  manufacture  of  crucible  steel  began  in  this  country  in  1832,  in 
Cincinnati,  and  the  product  competed  seriously  in  this  country  with 
Sheffield  steel.  Owing  to  tariff  reduction  during  the  administration  of 
President  Jackson,  the  company  failed  and  the  industry  languished  for 
a  number  of  years.  In  1850  Pennsylvania  had  13  steel  plants  with  a 
product  of  6078  tons.     After  the  increase  of  tariff  at  the  beginning  of 


Pennsylvania  and  Its  Manifold  Activities 

Lincoln's  administration  in  1861  the  industry  was  largely  extended, 
especially  for  edge  tools,  but  this  method  could  not  compete  with  Bessemer 
or  open-hearth  processes  in  the  wider  applications  of  steel. 

The  first  steel  rails  produced  in  the  United  States  in  commercial 
quantities  were  rolled  by  Cambria  Iron  Company  in  August,  1867,  from 
ingots  made  by  the  Pennsylvania  Steel  Works.  To-day,  iron  rails  have 
been  virtually  supplanted  on  railroads  in  this  country  by  steel  rails,  and 
in  the  liistory  of  this  development  the  name  of  Andrew  Carnegie  has  an 
important  place.  Mr.  Carnegie  saw  that  the  day  of  the  steel  rail  was  sure 
to  come,  and  he  made  his  preparations  accordingly.  When  the  day  came 
that  American  railroads  were  forced  to  make  the  change,  the  Carnegie 
plant  had  been  so  developed  that  he  was  able  to  produce  at  lower  cost 
and  to  undersell  competitors.  The  first  30-foot  rails  rolled  in  this  country 
were  produced  in  1855,  at  the  Cambria  Iron  Works.  In  1875  the  Edgar 
Thomson  Steel  Works,  of  the  Carnegie  plant,  rolled  the  first  60-foot  rails. 
The  steel-rail  business  of  the  country  to-day  centers  at  Pittsburgh,  though 
other  Pennsylvania  works  bear  an  important  part  in  the  total  production. 

The  United  States  Steel  Corporation's  research  work  in  the  electric 
steel-making  process  is  being  conducted  at  the  Carnegie  company's 
metallurgical  laboratories  at  Homestead,  under  the  guidance  of  Dr.  John 
H.  Unger,  chief  of  metallurgical  stafif  of  the  corporation.  Since  Feb- 
ruary 10,  1910,  the  corporation  has  been  making  steel  in  a  15-ton  electric 
furnace  at  the  Homestead  works — the  largest  electric  steel  refining 
furnace  in  commercial  operation  in  this  country. 

The  Steel  Corporation  has  the  exclusive  rights  in  this  country  to 
the  Paul  Heroult  French  process  of  electrically  refining  steel,  which 
is  more  practicable  for  installation  in  American  plants,  with  their  low 
blast  furnace  costs,  than  are  the  processes  in  use  in  the  electric  steel 
works  in  Sweden,  Norway  and  Germany.  In  191 1  the  Crucible 
Steel  Company  of  America  secured  a  permit  from  the  Steel  Corporation 
to  operate  electric  furnaces  under  the  Heroult  patent,  and  the  first  installa- 
tion was  made  at  the  Crucible  Company's  Harrison.  X.  J.,  plant.  It 
was  originally  planned  to  make  a  second  installation  at  the  Park  plant 
of  the  Crucible  Company,  in  Pittsburgh,  but  this  project  is  in  abeyance 
pending  the  completion  of  the  new  open-hearth  plant  the  company  is 
building  at  Midland,  Pa.,  on  the  Ohio  River,  20  miles  below  Pittsburgh, 
where  its  crude  product  operations  will  be  centralized,  and  where  it  is 
designed  to  undertake  the  electric  refining  of  steel  on  a  large  scale.  The 
electric  steel  process,  as  utilized  in  Sweden,  does  not  accommodate  itself 


The  State's  Steel-Mokiiig  History 

to  American  practice,  inasmuch  as  it  contemplates  smaller  units,  and  has 
not  yet  been  developed  to  operate  on  the  heavy  tonnage  basis  which  the 
American  industry  has  reached.  Recent  investigations  by  steel  works 
chemists,  however,  have  developed  properties  in  steel  after  it  has  been 
put  through  a  double-refining  process  by  the  use  of,  first,  the  open-hearth, 
and  then  the  electric  furnace,  that  suggest  the  possibilities  of  the  product 


POURIXG    OPEX-HEARTH    STEEL    INTO    MOLDS 


being  used  for  high-class  rail  manufacture.  Such  a  solution  of  the 
present  steel  rail  problem  on  American  railroads  is  being  discussed  by 
American  steel  works  engineers.  The  Firth-Sterling  Steel  Company, 
with  works  at  McKeesport,  has  had  a  2><-ton  Heroult  electric  furnace 
in  commercial  operation  since  1910. 

As  illustrative  of  the  position  of  Pennsylvania  in  the  steel  industries, 
it  is  noteworthy  that  the  only  armor  plate  for  battleships  made  in  the 
United  States  is  produced  within  the  borders  of  the  Commonwealth. 
John  Fritz,  one  of  the  ablest  of  Pennsylvania's  iron-masters,  was  the 


173 


Pcniisylz'aiiia  and  Its  Manifold  Activities 

first  to  make  arnuir  plate  in  this  country.,  This  was  at  the  Bethlehem 
works.  For  some  time,  Bethlehem  and  the  Carnegie  Company  had  this 
branch  of  manufacture  to  themselves,  but  after  a  few  years,  the  Midvale 
Steel  Works  successfully  invaded  the  field.  Armor  plate  has  been  made 
not  only  for  the  warships  of  the  United  States  Navy,  but  also  for  those 
of  various  foreie^n  countries. 


CHARGING    A   BESSEMER   CONVERTER 

Recent  years  have  seen,  in  both  ends  of  the  State,  a  notable  develop- 
ment in  the  introduction  into  the  field  of  alloy  steel,  of  the  metal 
vanadium.  While  commercially  a  new  metal,  vanadium  was  discovered 
a  century  ago  in  some  of  the  Swedish  iron  ores.  Even  up  to  the  end 
of  the  last  century  it  was  considered  as  one  of  the  rare  metals.  With 
the  opening  of  the  twentieth  century  researches  as  to  the  efifect  of 
vanadium  in  steel  showed  such  results  as  to  immediately  engage  the 
attention  of  metallurgists,  and  to  arouse  interest  in  explorations  for  ores 
of  vanadium. 

Engineers  of  the  American  A'anadium  Company  in  1905  discovered 
a  large  deposit  of  rich  vanadium  ore  in  the  Andes  of  Peru.  This  deposit 
is  unique  in  that  the  vanadium  occurs  in  a  previously  unknown  mineral, 


174 


TJic  State's  Stccl-Makiiig  History 

a  sulphide  of  vanadium.  The  discovery  of  this  deposit  at  once  made 
vanadium  available  in  c[uantities  sufficient  to  meet  the  commercial  require- 
ments of  the  steel  industry,  and  insured  a  large  supply  for  future  needs. 
The  ore,  after  being  mined,  is  roasted  to  remove  most  of  the  sulphur 
which  it  contains.  It  is  then  transported  in  sacks,  by  steamer  around 
Cape  Horn  to  New  ^'ork,  and  then  by  railroad  to  the  plant  of  the  Ameri- 


BLOWINX  A  BESSEMER  CONVERTER 

can  Vanadium  Company  at  Bridgeville,  near  Pittsburgh.  Here  the  ores 
are  worked,  and  the  vanadium  reduced  in  the  form  of  an  alloy  v^ith  iron, 
known  as  ferro-vanadium,  which  contains  about  35  per  cent,  vanadium. 
The  working  of  the  ore  involves  a  number  of  chemical  extraction 
processes  to  separate  the  vanadium  from  the  other  minerals.  The  strong 
affinity  of  vanadium  for  carbon  makes  it  impossible  to  produce  ferro- 
vanadium  with  carbon  as  a  reducing  agent  without  a  large  percentage  of 
carbon  in  the  finished  alloy.  As  ferro-vanadium  containing  carbon  is  not 
desirable,  it  is  necessary  to  reduce  the  oxide  of  vanadium  by  a  process 
that  will  give  an  alloy  as  free  as  possible  from  carbon.  The  production 
of  carbon-free  ferro-vanadium  is  accomplished  by  means  of  an  aluminum 
reduction  process,  operating  by  combustion  of  metallic  aluminum. 


175 


Pciuisylz'aiiia  and  Its  Manifold  Activities 

An  idea  of  the  growth  of  the  application  of  vanadium  to  the  iron 
and  steel  industry  is  given  by  the  statement  that  in  1906  the  total  produc- 
tion of  vanadium  steel  amounted  to  only  800  tons,  while  in  191 1  the  ton- 
nage of  steel  into  which  vanadium  entered  was  over  50,000  tons,  with 
the  tonnage  for  the  year  1912  estimated  at  100,000  tons.  The  principal 
applications  of  vanadium  in  the  manufacture  of  steel  have  been  thus 
far  in  the  manufacture  of  high-speed  tool  steel.  The  use  of  chrome- 
vanadium,  nickel-vanadium,  and  nickel-chrome-vanadium  steels  is  to-day 
general  in  the  automobile  industry. 

The  Primes  Chemical  Company,  of  Primos,  Delaware  County,  has 
a  plant  at  Vanadium,  Col.,  for  the  extraction  of  vanadium,  a  tungsten 
ore  concentrating  plant  at  Lakewood,  Col.,  and  a  reduction  plant  at 
Primos.  It  controls  5000  acres  of  tungsten  and  vanadium-bearing  land. 
The  business  was  established  in  1888,  and  w^as  developed  by  those  who 
are  still  the  sole  owners. 

The  chief  products  manufactured  are  tungsten,  molybdenum,  and 
vanadium,  which  are  used  largely  in  the  manufacture  of  tool  steels, 
magnet  steels,  armament,  automobiles,  and  in  warships  and  other  vessels. 
These  metals  and  alloys  are  used  in  armor  plate,  deck  plates,  crank 
shafts,  and  in  many  parts  of  the  machinery  requiring  steel  of  high  tensile 
strength  and  resistance  to  shock.  Tungsten,  owing  to  its  extremely 
high  melting  point,  is  used  in  the  manufacture  of  filaments  for  incandes- 
cent lamps,  and  also  in  the  manufacture  of  some  of  the  newer  arc  lamps. 


1/6 


The  Steel  Industry 

EDIXG  the  steel  works  of  the  State  in  point  of  extent  of  output 
are  those  of  the  Carnegie  Steel  Company,  at  Pittsburgh,  which 
have  aptly  been  termed  "the  backbone  of  the  United  States  Steel 
Corporation."  The  Carnegie  works  furnish  to  the  big  corporation 
the  steel,  in  billet  or  other  semi-tinished  form,  for  nearly  one-half 
of  its  finished  product,  including  practically  all  the  steel  used  by  the 
American  Sheet  and  Tin  Plate  Company,  the  American  Bridge  Company, 
the  steel  hoop  mills,  axle  works,  and  other  scattering  subsidiaries.  It 
boasts  the  largest  output  of  steel  of  any  single  company  in  the  world. 

Figures  for  the  steel  output  of  the  Carnegie  plants  are  not  given 
separately  in  United  States  Steel  Corporation  reports,  but  its  22  rolling 
mills  and  steel  works  were  rated  two  years  ago  at  4,550,000  tons  of 
Bessemer  ingots  and  over  6,000,000  tons  of  open-hearth  ingots  annually. 
Its  Edgar  Thomson  rail  mill,  for  instance,  is  rated  at  975,000  tons  a 
year ;  its  Homestead  Steel  Works  will  produce  in  excess  of  3,200,000  tons 
of  steel  i^roducts  a  year. 

The  Homestead  plant  of  the  company  is  supi^lied  with  molten  pig 
iron  from  the  "Carrie  group"  of  blast  furnaces,  on  the  opposite  side  of 
the  Monongahela  River,  by  a  "hot-metal  bridge,"  spanning  the  river — the 
iron  being  conveyed  direct  to  the  open-hearth  furnaces  in  ladle  cars.  The 
Homestead  plant  was  largely  devoted  to  Bessemer  steel  until  1904,  when 
the  company  began  changing  it  over  to  open  hearth,  piecemeal.  Its  output 
is  now  entirely  open-hearth  steel,  while  that  of  the  Edgar  Thomson  plant, 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  is  devoted  to  Bessemer  steel.  The 
Homestead  plant  has  64  basic  open-hearth  steel  furnaces,  and  the  Duquesne 
plant  32  basic  open  hearths — the  total  of  96  furnaces  of  from  40-  to  60-ton 
capacity  representing  the  largest  group  of  open-hearth  furnaces  in  the 
world.  In  addition,  the  Homestead  plant  has  installed  an  electric  furnace 
of  15  gross  tons.  The  metallurgical  laboratories  of  the  steel  corporation 
are  located  at  Homestead. 

The  Carnegie  Steel  Company  has  59  blast  furnaces,  with  an  annual 
capacity  of  8,450,000  tons  of  pig  iron.  The  products  of  its  mills  as  a 
whole  are  so  varied  as  to  make  their  listing  a  difficult  matter.     It  has  an 

177 


Pcniisylrania  and  Its  Manifold  .Ictiiities 

animal  capacity  <>f  1,450,000  tons  of  standard  steel  rails  and  200,000 
tons  of  lii^iit  rail  sections;  1,000,000  tons  of  structural  shapes,  most  of 
which  are  (ielivered  to  the  American  Bridge  Company  for  fabrication 
into  ])ridges  and  buildings;  1,400,000  tons  of  plates,  250,000  tons  of  car 
axles,  500.000  tons  of  hoops  and  cotton  ties,  800,000  tons  of  merchant 
bars,  concrete  reinforcement  bars,  steel  railroad  ties,  and  other  si)ecialties  : 
200,000  tons  of  iron,  brass,  and  steel  castings  and  about  25.000  tons  of 
finished  armor  plate.  Recently  the  company  has  gone  into  the  manu- 
facture of  car  wheels  on  a  large  scale. 

J().\i-:s  (^  Laugiilix  .Steel  Company 

The  Jones  &  Laughlin  Steel  Company  is  one  of  the  pioneer  American 
concerns,  having  been  founded  in  Pittsburgh  in  1849.  It  is  t^j-day 
among  the  large  steel  companies  of  the  United  States,  having  an  annual 
tonnage  of  2,000,000.  The  business  is  still  in  control  of  the  men  who 
founded  it  back  in  the  days  when  Andrew  Carnegie  was  yet  a  telegraph 
oi)erator.  The  company  owns  its  coal,  limestone,  and  iron  ore  supplies, 
and  controls  all  processes  from  mining  its  raw  materials  to  finishing  its 
products.  It  has  its  own  fleets  of  towboats  and  barges  on  the  Monon- 
gahela  River  for  the  transport  of  its  coal,  and  some  of  the  finest  ore 
steamers  on  the  lakes  for  the  transport  of  its  ore.  Its  ore  docks  are  at 
Ashtabula,  Ohio,  from  which  port  it  utilizes  the  Pittsburgh  and  Lake 
Erie  Railroad  in  l)ringing  the  material  to  the  Pittsburgh  district.  Many 
times  it  has  been  reported  in  recent  years  that  the  company  was  preparing 
to  build  its  own  iron  ore  road  over  the  125-mile  stretch  from  Ashtabula 
into  Pittsburgh,  but,  though  the  survey  for  such  a  railroad  was  made 
years  ago,  the  project  has  never  been  carried  further  than  the  preliminary 
stage. 

The  company's  Pittsburgh  works,  situated  on  l)oth  sides  of  the 
Monongahela  River,  have  an  annual  ca])acity  of  1,200.000  tons  of  steel 
and  1,000,000  tons  of  finished  material.  The  company  has  six  blast 
furnaces  at  its  old  ])lants  in  Pittsburgh,  with  a  rated  annual  capacity  of 
1,050,000  tons  of  ]Mg  iron,  and  four  additional  furnaces  at  its  newly 
completed  i)lant  at  Aliquippa,  rated  at  700,000  tons  a  year.  The  new 
l)lant  at  A!i(|uii)i)a  is  the  largest  single  new  plant  added  to  the  country's 
iron  and  steel  ec|uii)nK-nt  at  one  operation  in  twenty  years,  with  the 
exception  of  the  United  States  Steel  Corporation's  new  works  at  Gary. 
Ind.,  and  compares  favorably  with  the  latter  in  point  of  crude  metal 
output.     This  has  a  capacity  of  upward  of  800.000  tons  of  crufle  steel. 

178 


The  Steel  Indiistrv 


GROUP    OF    LLAMAS    IN    THE 


AUEX     WITH    VANADIUM 


ORE    FOR    AMERICAN     VAXAIiR-.M     COMPANY,    PITTSP.URCH 
179 


Pciiiisyli'aiiia  and  Its  Manifold  .Icth'itics 

Its  finished  c;ii)aoity  has  not  been  given  an  official  rating,  as  the  finishing 
mills  are  slill  in  ])r()cess  of  extension.  The  principal  coke  plant  is  located 
in  Pittsburgh,  where  lyoo  ovens  have  an  annual  capacity  of  1,330,000 
tons  of  coke.  At  the  Aliquippa  plant,  900  more  ovens  are  rated  at 
480,000  tons  of  coke  a  year. 

Instead  of  the  type  of  stationary  40-ton  to  60-ton  open-hearth  steel 
furnace,  so  popular  in  Pittsburgh,  the  company  has,  in  its  recent  exten- 
sions, adopted  almost  exclusively  the  large  200-  and  250-ton  tilting  open- 
hearth  furnaces  of  the  Talbot  type.  Besides  twelve  of  the  40-ton  and 
50-ton  furnaces  of  the  old  type  at  its  Pittsburgh  plants,  its  South  Side 
works  contain  five  200-ton  Talbots  and  its  Aliquippa  works  six  of  the 
large  tilting  furnaces,  each  250  tons.  The  first  steel  was  made  at  the 
new  Aliquippa  works  of  the  company  in  January,  1912.  The  finished 
product  plans  for  the  Aliquippa  plant  were  a  matter  of  considerable  con- 
jecture during  the  building  of  the  primary  pig  iron  units  on  the  new 
site.  The  company's  first  announcement  of  its  finished  product  plans 
furnished  a  surprise  in  its  invasion  of  the  wire  and  wire  nail  and  tin 
plate  fields. 

Among  the  Jones  &  Laughlin  Company's  products  are  open-hearth 
and  Bessemer  steel,  steel  sheet  piling,  power  transmission  machinery, 
cold  rolled  steel  shafting,  rope  drives,  concrete  reinforcing  Inirs.  steel 
wire  nails,  barbed  wire,  fence  and  special  screw  wire,  tinplate,  railroad 
spikes,  light  rails  and  connections,  steel  mine  ties,  steel  barges,  structural 
steel,  and  chains.  Recently  the  company  has  gone  into  the  building  of 
steel  barges  for  the  inland  river  trade,  especially  designed  for  coal  trans- 
port. The  plain  structural  material  for  the  lock  gate  work  at  the  Panama 
Canal,  aggregating  between  60,000  and  80,000  tons,  was  furnished  to 
tlie  contractors,  the  McClintic-Marshall  Construction  Company,  of  Pitts- 
burgh,  by  the  Jones  &   Laughlin   Company. 

Pennsylvania    Steel   Company 

The  Pennsylvania  Steel  Company  has  a  plant  occupying  a  frontage 
of  three  miles  along  the  Susquehanna,  in  Steelton,  near  Harrisburg,  and 
is  the  oldest  company  of  the  kind  in  the  country.  It  was  founded  in 
1865,  and  in  June,  1867,  made  the  steel  from  which  were  rolled  the 
first  steel  rails  produced  commercially  in  this  country.  The  Steelton  plant 
is  the  largest  in  central  Pennsylvania,  employing  normally  about  7000 
men.  The  I'ennsylvania  Steel  Company,  besides  the  works  in  Steelton 
and  Lelianon,  owns  the  following:  ^Maryland  Steel  Company,  with  works 

180 


The  Steel  Industry 

at  Sparrow's  Point;  Baltimore  and  Sparrow's  Point  Railroad  Company; 
Spanish-American  Iron  Company,  operating  iron  mines  in  Cuba;  and 
Penn-Mary  Coal  Company,  operating  coal  mines  in  Indiana  and  Cambria 
Counties.  It  has  a  controlling  interest  in  the  Cornwall  Ore  Banks  Com- 
pany and  the  Cornwall  and  Lebanon  Railroad  Company.  The  leading 
features   of   the   equipment   and   natural   resources   of   the    Pennsylvania 


ROLLING    A    STEEL    BLOOM 


Steel  Company  and  its  constituent  companies  are  as  follows :  Coal  lands 
in  Pennsylvania ;  ore  properties  in  Pennsylvania  and  Cuba ;  410  by- 
product coke  ovens,  120  of  these  being  in  Steelton ;  11  blast  furnaces,  5 
in  Harrisburg  and  Steelton ;  4  pig  iron  casting  machines,  2  in  Steelton ; 
2  complete  Bessemer  plants  with  a  total  of  6  converters,  3  in  Steelton ; 
22  open-hearth  furnaces  ranging  up  to  80-ton  capacity  each,  17  being  in 
Steelton ;  9  rolling  mills,  including  slabbing  mill,  rail  mills,  merchant 
mills,  etc.,  7  in  Steelton ;  steel  foundry  with  2  open-hearth  and  additional 
crucible  furnaces  making  castings  up  to  30,000  lbs.  weight ;  forge  depart- 
ment, with  rough  finishing  equipment.  In  addition,  there  are,  at  Steelton, 
a  large  frog  and  switch  department  and  bridge  and  construction  depart- 
ment.    The  annual  capacity  at  Steelton  is:  Pig  iron,  340,000  tons;  open- 


181 


/'anisyi-raiiia  and  Its  Manifold  .Ictiritics 

lu'arth  steel.  3(30.000  Ions;  Bessemer  steel.  7,()0.oon  tons;  steel  rails,  slabs, 
and  billets.  500.000  tons;  steel  castings  and  forging  ingots,  21,000  tons; 
(liber  ])r()ducts.  300.000  tons;  coke,  400,000  tons. 

'Ibe  c()nii)anv  controls  and  o])erates  in  Cuba  two  separate  mining 
properties,  one  near  Santiago  on  the  south  coast  and  one  inland  from 
Xipe  Bay,  on  the  north  coast.  These  mines  are  known  as  the  Daiquiri 
and  Mavari  groups,  respectively.  Alost  of  the  ore  is  quarried  or  blasted 
out  and  loaded  with  steam  shovels  and  transported  to  crushers  and  loading 
piers  for  shipment  to  Sparrow's  Point.  About  1000  men  are  employed 
here,  and  the  normal  output  is  from  40.000  to  50,000  tons  per  month. 

The  Alayari  mines  are  located  on  a  plateau  some  1500  feet  above  sea 
level.  The  ore  is  transported  down  two  inclined  planes,  over  10  miles  of 
standard  gauge  tracks  to  the  town  of  Felton,  situated  directly  on  Nipe 
Bay.  At  Felton  the  ore  is  fed  into  rotary  kilns  and  nodulized,  pulverized 
coal  being  used  as  a  fuel.  This  process  eliminates  and  collects  or  agglom- 
erates the  fine  ]:)articles  of  the  ore  into  pellets  or  nodules  suitable  for  use  in 
the  blast  furnace,  b^rom  the  kilns  the  ore  is  placed  in  storage  under  gantry 
bridges,  eciuii)ped  with  grab  buckets  for  loading  into  the  ship's  holds.  The 
normal  output  of  this  plant  is  from  40,000  to  50,000  tons  per  mon.th,  Init 
the  mining  and  handling  facilities  are  capable  of  caring  for  a  much 
larger  tonnage.  The  marine  and  dock  departments  of  the  company  are 
at  Sparrow's  Point.  Here  all  of  the  Cuban  and  imported  ores  are  received 
for  both  Steelton  and  local  use. 

Cami!Ria   Steel  Company 

The  Cambria  Steel  Company  has  an  authorized  capital  stock  of 
$50,000,000.  It  leases  and  operates  the  plant  formerly  operated  by  the 
Cambria  Iron  Company.  Its  general  ofifices  and  works  are  located  at 
Johnstown.  Pa.,  about  275  miles  west  of  Philadelphia,  and  about  79  miles 
east  of  Pittsburgh.  The  manufacturing  plants  cover  approximately  392 
acres.  The  annual  capacity  of  the  company  is  1,000.000  tons  of  finished 
steel.     In  good  times  20,000  names  are  on  its  pay-rolls. 

The  Cambria  manufacturing  plants  consist  of  8  blast  furnaces, 
4  Bessemer  converters,  25  open-hearth  melting  furnaces,  4  blooming 
and  slabbing  mills.  25  billet,  bar,  rail,  shape,  structural,  plate,  and  w^ire- 
rod  mills,  and  extensive  shops  for  the  finishing  of  all  kinds  of  steel 
products.  A  recent  addition  is  a  complete  modern  wire  mill.  These 
plants,  on  account  of  their  location,  are  divided  into  four  sections,  and 
are  familiarly  known  as  the  Cambria  Works.  C.autier  Works.  Franklin 

182 


The  Steel  Industry 

Works  and  Rod  and  Wire  I'lant.  At  the  l-'ranklin  Works  is  located  a 
complete  by-product  coke-oven  plant,  consisting  of  372  Otto- Hoffman 
ovens,  having  an  annual  capacity  of  about  600,000  tons  of  coke.  A  com- 
plete equipment  for  the  recovery  from  the  gas  of  tar  and  ammonia  is 
installed.  It  owns  and  operates  large  coal  mines  and  is  one  of  the  greatest 
producers  of  seniid)ituniinous  coal   in  the   State.     Originally  using  local 


ROLLING   STEEL   RAILS 


ores,  it  now  owns  large  ore  mines  in  the  Lake  Superior  districts  and 
transports  the  ore  across  the  lakes  by  its  own  fleet  of  ore  boats.  It  has 
dams  capable  of  supplying  100,000,000  gallons  of  water  daily  to  the  works, 
one  of  these,  the  Quemahoning,  being  connected  to  the  plant  by  a  pipe  line 
of  steel  plate  66  inches  in  diameter,  which  is  14  miles  long.  Its  own 
hospital,  which  is  thoroughly  modern,  was  the  first  industrial  hospital 
established  in  Pennsylvania.  Under  its  direction  the  first  industrial 
relief  fund  in  the  country  was  founded  in  1864.  To  this  there  has  been 
added  in  recent  years  a  pension  fund.  Both  of  these  funds  are  guaranteed 
by  the  company.  Broad-  and  narrow-gauge  track  systems  traverse  and 
connect  all  of  the  plants  completely  equipped  and  operated  by  the  com- 


183 


Pcmisyh'auia  and  Its  Manifold  Activities 

pany's    own   transportation    department.      These    connect    with    terniinal 
yards  of  the  Pennsylvania  and  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroads. 

This  company  holds  a  uniqne  position  in  the  history  of  the  iron  and 
steel  industry  of  the  Ignited  States  in  that  it  is  the  oldest  steel  works 
whicli  lias  mined  and  worked  its  own  fuel  and  ore  from  the  beginning 
of  its  operations.  With  its  great  natural  resources  it  has  been  able  to 
make  steel  on  a  large  scale  and  enter  into  successful  competition  in  the 
markets   of   the   world. 

Bethlehem   Steel  Corporation 

The  Bethlehem  Steel  Corporation  has  made  rapid  advance  under  the 
enterprising  management  of  Charles  AI.  Schwab,  one  of  the  recognized 
captains  of  the  steel  industry  who  were  developed  by  Andrew  Carnegie 
at  Pittsburgh.  The  ])rincipal  plants  are  located  in  the  boroughs  of  South 
Bethlehem  and  Northampton  Heights,  between  the  Lehigh  River  on  the 
north  and  the  tracks  of  the  Philadelphia  and  Reading  Railway  Company 
on  the  south.  The  plants  are  more  than  two  miles  in  length,  and  from 
one-quarter  to  one-half  mile  in  width.  They  comprise  an  area  of  over 
500  acres,  ar.d  include  7  blast  furnaces,  with  a  total  capacity  of  75,000 
tons  of  pig  iron  per  month  ;  2  open-hearth  furnace  plants,  with  a  total  of 
21  furnaces,  and  a  monthly  production  of  80,000  tons  of  ingots;  a 
Bessemer  converting  plant  recently  placed  in  operation,  with  two  20-ton 
converters,  in  which  the  hot  metal  is  first  15essemerized.  the  melt  being 
completed  in  the  open-hearth  furnaces,  the  combination  of  the  Bessemer 
and  open-hearth  processes  representing  what  is  known  as  the  duplex 
process ;  a  crucible  steel  forging,  melting,  and  cold-drawing  plant ;  iron, 
steel,  and  brass  foundries;  6  machine  shops,  the  largest  of  which  is  1750 
feet  long  by  180  feet  wide;  a  rail  mill,  with  a  capacity  of  40,000  tons 
per  month ;  a  structural  mill,  with  a  monthly  capacity  of  40,000  tons ;  a 
standard  structural  mill,  with  a  capacity  of  20,000  tons  per  month ; 
two  blooming  mills  ;  a  shop  for  the  fabrication  of  structural  sections,  with 
a  capacity  of  5000  tons  per  month  ;  merchant  mills  for  the  production 
of  simple  and  alloy  steel  bars  and  miscellaneous  shapes,  staybolt  iron, 
file  steel,  etc. ;  a  press  and  hammer  forge  for  commercial  and  govern- 
ment forgings.  such  as  shafting,  gun  and  battleship  forgings ;  an  armor- 
I)late  forge  and  a  drop  forge. 

One  of  the  notable  advances  made  by  the  company  is  in  the  pro- 
duction of  structural  shapes.  It  owns  the  rights  to  a  patented  process 
for  beams  of  a  design  for  which  there  is  claimed  greater  strength  than  in 

184 


The  Steel  fiuiiistry 

standard  I)eams  of  equal  strength.  'J1ie  company  owns  and  operates 
extensive  ore  mines  located  at  Firmeza,  eighteen  miles  distant  from 
Santiago,  Cuba,  as  well  as  ore  properties  in  New  York  State.  In  addi- 
tion ore  is  received  from  the  Lake  regions  of  the  United  States,  as  well 
as  from  Sweden. 

MiDVALE   Steel   Company 

The  Midvale   Steel   Company,   Philadelphia,  has  j^roved  itself  to  be 


PLANT   OF   THE    MIIAALE    STEEL   COMPANY,    WAYNE   JUNCTION,    PH ILAIIELPHI A 

one  of  the  most  progressive  of  the  steel-making  concerns  of  the  State. 
The  business  was  establishetl  in  1866,  and  the  company  was  incorporated 
in  1 88 1.  The  plant  at  Nicetown,  Philadelphia,  has  steadily  grown  until 
it  now  covers  52  acres.  The  company  has  developed  a  number  of  new 
methods,  notably  in  the  manufacture  of  guns,  shells,  and  armor  plate. 
Its  output  of  locomotive  tires  is  extensive. 

LuKENS  Iron  and  Steel  Company 

The  Lukens  Iron  and  Steel  Company,  whose  mills  are  at  Coatesville, 
have  the  record  of  having  turned  out  the  first  plate  iron  made   in  the 


185 


Pcititsylz'aiiia  and  Its  Manifold  .Ictiiilics 

United  Stales.  The  mills  at  Coatesville  now  have  an  annual  capacity  of 
380,000  tons  of  plate.  Jn  1907  the  company  ])urchase(l  the  controlling 
interest  in  the  Alleghany  Ore  and  Iron  Company,  which  has  mines  and 
furnaces  in  Virginia.  The  company  is  a  manufacturer  of  basic,  foundry, 
and  special  car-wheel  pig  iron.  With  the  Empire  Steel  and  Iron  Com- 
pany, the  Alleghany  Ore  and  Iron  Company  controls  the  \'ictoria  Coal 
and  Coke  Company,  which  has  coal  lands  and  coke  ovens  at  Caperton, 
W.  \'a. 

Crucible  Steel  Company  of  America 

The  Crucible  Steel  Company  of  America,  the  largest  producer  of 
high-grade  crucible  and  steel  tool  steel  in  the  country,  has  eight  of  its 
twelve  plants  located  in  the  Pittsburgh  district.  Of  its  annual  capacity 
of  approximately  400.000  tons  a  year  of  high-grade  steel,  80  per  cent. 
is  produced  in  its  Pittsburgh  plants.  The  crucible  company  makes  a 
greater  percentage  of  its  steel  into  finished  product  than  in  the  early 
days  of  the  company's  existence,  and  a  number  of  its  smaller  plants  are 
being  made  over  more  and  more  into  finishing  mills.  Desiring  to  secure 
its  own  raw  material  rather  than  purchase  it  in  the  open  market,  the 
company  two  years  ago  absorbed  the  Midland  Steel  Company,  at  Mid- 
land, Pa.,  on  the  Ohio  River,  20  miles  from  Pittsburgh. 

Firth-Sterling  and  Carbon  Steel  Companies 

The  Firth-Sterling  Steel  Company,  with  plant  at  McKeesport,  is  a 
heavy  producer  of  high-grade  open-hearth  and  tool  steel.  In  addition 
to  its  McKeesport  plant,  the  company  has  ordnance  works  situated  at 
Geisboro  ]\Ianor,  near  Washington,  D.  C.  The  Carbon  Steel  Company, 
with  works  at  Pittsburgh,  is  a  large  producer  of  carbon-chrome  safe 
])lates,  locomotive  driving  axles,  pins  and  rods,  etc.,  with  an  annual 
capacity  of  about  150,000  tons  of  high-grade  steel.  The  company's 
equipment  includes  eight  50-gross-ton  open-hearth  furnaces,  and  its 
product  is  largely  alloy  steels.  The  company  handled  a  large  contract 
for  special  alloy  castings  in  connection  with  the  Panama  Canal  lock 
construction. 


186 


Iron  and  Steel  Products 

FROM  Pennsylvania  iron  and  steel  there  are  made  products  of  so 
diversified  a  range  as  to  include  almost  every  article  into  which 
steel  and  iron  may  go.  The  economy  that  lies  in  manufacture  at 
the  base  of  supply  is  the  more  important  where  that  raw  supply  is  heavy 
material.  The  development  of  these  lines  of  manufacture  within  the 
State  and  close  to  the  base  of  supplies  has  been,  therefore,  entirely  logical 
and  natural.  Of  these  lines  of  production,  one  to  which  prominence 
may  be  given  because  of  the  part  it  has  borne  in  the  general  industrial 
advance  of  the  State,  is  the  making  of  machine  tools. 

Machine  Tool  Making 

The  wonderful  increase  in  the  use  of  machinery  of  all  kinds  which 
followed  the  introduction  of  the  steam  engine,  together  with  the  necessity 
of  substituting  iron  for  wood  in  the  construction  of  beds  and  housings 
of  machines  and  engines,  created,  at  an  early  period,  a  demand  for  proper 
devices  for  shaping  and  cutting  the  metals  of  which  the  machines  were 
composed,  more  effectively,  more  accurately,  and  more  cheaply  than  was 
possible  with  the  file,  the  chisel,  the  saw,  and  the  hand  drill  which  the 
first  makers  used.  This  class  of  mechanisms,  replacing  the  hand  tools 
of  the  earlier  worker  in  metals,  are  usually  known  as  "machine  tools," 
and  embrace  a  large  variety  of  devices  for  performing  various  operations 
in  the  shaping  of  metal  to  desired  forms.  The  earliest  made,  the  most 
generally  useful,  and  most  widely  known  is  the  lathe,  almost  as  old,  in 
some  crude  forms,  as  the  potter's  wheel,  and  almost  as  well  known. 

The  development  of  machine  tools  has  been  a  marvelous  growth,  and 
has  rendered  possible  the  creation  of  the  vast  variety  of  machines  now 
used  in  the  arts — from  those  great  structures  used  in  the  making  of 
steel,  the  fashioning  of  ordnance,  and  the  building  of  ships,  through  an 
endless  variety  of  forms,  to  such  delicate  devices  as  the  automatic 
machines  which  produce  for  the  watchmaker  the  tiny  screws  that  can 
only  be  clearly  distinguished  with  the  microscope.  Machine  tools  have 
made  possible  the  present  development  of  mechanic  arts,  and  the  growing 

187 


Pciiitsyli'cDiici  and  Its  Manifold  .icfkiiics 

and  cliaui^inf^  needs  of  these  arts  have  stimulated  the  ingenuity  of  the 
makers  of  machine  tools. 

Abundant  iron  and  fuel,  and  the  character  of  her  people,  early 
develoi)ed  Pennsylvania  as  a  manufacturing  State,  and  her  makers  of 
machinery  have  kept  pace  with  the  needs  of  the  manufacturer  in  every 
line.  The  machine-tool  industry  of  the  State  first  centered  chiefly  in 
Philadeli)liia.  and  under  the  influence  of  a  group  of  strong  men  the  art 
there  early  attained  national  recognition.  Philadelphia  builders  became 
widely  known  for  the  excellence  of  their  product,  and  were  called  on  to 
supply  much  of  the  equipment  of  the  railroad  shops,  governiiient  arsenals 
and  navy  yards,  and  many  manufacturing  establishments. 

Among  the  best  known  of  the  earlier  builders  were  Wm.  Sellers 
&  Co.,  Bement  &  Dougherty,  and  later  Ferris  &  Miles,  C.  C.  Newton,  and 
others.  The  first  mentioned  were  probably  the  earliest  to  adopt  the 
making  of  machine  tools  as  their  chief  business,  and  have  operated  under 
their  original  name,  and  in  control  of  the  same  family,  for  probably  a 
longer  period  than  any  other  machine-tool  builders  in  the  country.  The 
foimder  of  the  house  began  business  as  a  maker  of  machine  tools  in 
Philadelphia  in  1848.  A  State  charter  was  secured  in  1886,  and  the  title 
changed  to  Wm.  Sellers  &  Co.,  Incorporated.  This  house  is  well  and 
favorably  known  throughout  the  mechanical  world  for  originality  of 
design,  for  excellence  of  workmanship,  for  its  pioneer  work  in  developing 
the  art  of  machine-tool  building,  and  for  the  ])ropagation  of  sound 
mechanical  ideas.  The  founder  of  the  house  devised  the  screw-thread 
system,  which  is  standard  in  the  United  States,  and  he  is  also  well  known 
for  his  original  inventions  in  developing  the  planing  machine  and  other 
tools.  The  company  introduced  in  America  the  Gififord  injector,  for  feed- 
ing boilers,  which  has  been  greatly  improved  and  developed  by  them. 
They  were  also  among  the  first  to  apply  electricity  to  the  operation  of 
traveling  cranes,  and  to  meet  the  demand  for  tools  capable  of  utilizing 
the  properties  of  "high-speed"  steel. 

Heavy  Mill  M.\tHiNi:KN- 

Pittsburgh  is  the  logical  center  for  the  building  of  heavy  iron  and 
steel  mill  machiner}-  in  this  country.  Among  the  score  or  more  concerns 
specializing  on  this  work,  probably  the  largest  are  the  ]\Iesta  Machine 
Company,  with  works  at  West  Homestead.  Pa. ;  the  United  Engineering 
and  Foundry  Company,  which  has  three  plants  at  Pittsburgh  and  four 
at  points  within  a  hundred  miles  of  the  city  pn)per.  and  the  Mackintosh- 


//-()//  and  Steel  Products 

Hempliill  Company,  with  works  in  L'ittslinrgh.  The  designing  of  rolhng 
mills,  building  of  mills  and  engines,  and  construction  of  general  equip- 
ment for  heavy  steel  operations  is  undertaken  by  all  these  companies. 
All  have  large  outputs  of  castings,  rolls,  pinions,  etc.  Single  castings 
weighing  over  loo  tons  are  not  exceptional  in  the  foundries  of  these 
comi)anies. 


CRUCIBLE    STEEL     MELTING    FURNACES,    CRUCIBLE    STEEL    COMPANY    OF    AMERICA 

Recently  two  of  these  companies  mentioned  have  undertaken  the 
introduction  into  this  country  of  different  types  of  hydraulic  forging 
presses,  which  have  of  late  become  popular  abroad  in  heavy  work.  The 
Mesta  Machine  Company  took  over  the  American  rights  to  the  Haniei 
&  Lueg  patents,  Germany ;  and  the  United  Engineering  and  Foundry 
Company  is  introducing  the  hydraulic  press  made  under  the  Hanley 
patents,  England. 

The  Mackintosh-Hem])hill  plant  has  had  more  than  a  century  of  con- 
tinuetl  existence.  It  has  designed  and  built  a  large  portion  of  the  heavy 
rolling  mill  machinery  for  many  of  the  historic  plants  in  this  country. 
The  company  takes  contracts  for  the  complete  designing  of  mills  and 
motive  power,  and  builds  mill  and   blast   furnace  engines   and  all  types 


189 


Pcinisylraitia  iutii  Its  Manifold  .  Ictivifics 

i)f  mill  c(|ui])nient.  Compound  reversing  engines  and  blooming  mills  for 
the  Carnegie  steel  works  at  Duquesne  and  blooming  mills  and  engines 
for  the  new  Jones  &  Laughlin  steel  works  at  Aliquippa  are  among  this 
company's  recent  installations.  An  idea  of  the  size  of  the  castings  which 
these  plants  arc  able  to  turn  out  is  afforded  by  the  statement  made  con- 
cerning the  Mesta  company,  that  the  only  limit  to  size  and  weight  of 
machinery  which  it  manufactures  is  what  the  railroads  can  handle. 

Tin  and  Terne  Plate 

It  is  ])r()bable  that  the  manufacture  of  terne  plates  for  roofing  origi- 
nated in  Pennsylvania.  The  word  terne  signifies  dull,  or  tarnished,  and 
terne  plates  are  thin  sheets  of  iron  or  steel,  which,  instead  of  being 
dipped  in  a  molten  bath  of  tin,  as  would  be  done  if  tin  plates  were  to 
be  made,  are  dipped  in  a  bath  containing  an  alloy  of  tin  and  lead.  \Vhile 
it  is  possible  that  such  plates  were  used  for  roofing  purposes  prior  to 
1830,  there  seems  to  be  no  authentic  mention  of  such  use  before  that 
time.  However,  in  that  year,  small  quantities  of  lead-coated  sheets  were 
made  in  a  shop  located  on  Market  Street,  Philadelphia,  and  this  is  gener- 
ally accepted  as  the  beginning  of  the  industry  of  making  terne  plates  for 
roofing,  not  only  in  the  Ignited  States,  but  in  the  world.  The  plates 
made  in  Philadelphia  were  10  by  14  inches  in  size,  and  were  made  by 
dipping  imported  English  tin  plates  in  a  bath  of  molten  lead.  N.  (S:  ( ;. 
Taylor  Company,  Philadelphia,  to-day  an  important  factor  in  the  tin  and 
terne  plate  business,  says  regarding  this  early  Pennsylvania  departure : 
"News  of  the  sale  of  so  novel  an  article  soon  found  its  way  across  the 
water,  and  terne  plates  commenced  to  be  made  there.  Prior  to  that  time, 
zinc  sheets  were  commonly  used  in  Europe  for  roofing.  Imt  the  manu- 
facture of  terne  plates  soon  became  important  abroad,  as  it  was  in  this 
country.  The  pioneer  enterprise  in  the  Market  Street  shop  was  the  begin- 
ning of  one  of  Pennsylvania's  important  industries." 

About  1858  or  i85().  tinning  i)ots  were  operated  by  John  Grey,  mana- 
ger of  TTussey's  Coi)])er  Works,  Pittsburgh,  the  black  plates  being  olitained 
from  the  Sligo  Iron  Works  of  Pittsburgh.  The  sheets  made  by  him 
were  largely  used  in  the  manufacture  of  kitchen  ware  and  other  house- 
liold  utensils.  Th.ese  tin  plates  were  probabl}-  the  first  to  l)e  l)oth  made 
and  tinned  in  this  country. 

Among  pioneer  i)lants  for  the  combined  manufacture  of  black  ])lates 
and  tin  and  terne  i)lates  in  this  country  were  Rogers  &  Burchfield,  of 
Leechburg.   I'a.,  and  the  Cnited  States  Iron  and  Tin  Plate  Comi)any,  at 

190 


Iron  and  Steel  Products 

Deniniler,  Pa.  The  rollinj^  mills  for  the  Leechhury;'  enterprise  were 
erected  in  the  early  70's.  and  it  was  in  these  mills  that  natural  i^as  was 
first  ttsetl  as  a  fuel  in  the  manufacture  of  iron 

Several  of  these  early  concerns  in  I'ennsylvania  showed  their  enter- 
prise by  sending  men  to  England  for  the  express  purpose  of  learning 
the  tin  plate  industry.     One  or  two  of  these  reported  that  the  industry 


WASHING    TIN    PLATE 


could  not  be  successfully  established  in  this  country  under  the  wage  rate 
then  prevailing.  None  the  less,  the  industry  was  established  and  imme- 
diately began  to  threaten  the  monopoly  that  English  tin  plate  had  so 
long  enjoyed  in  this  country.  But  this  competition  brotight  about  a 
reduction  in  the  price  of  English  tin  and  terne  plate,  which  made  it 
tlifficult  for  American  makers  to  continue.  Up  to  the  year  1890,  the 
manufacture  of  tin  and  terne  plates  was  continued  under  the  most 
discouraging  conditions,  but  since  that  year  the  growth  has  been  very 
rapid.     Among  the  Pennsylvania  enterprises  that  were  given  their  first 


191 


Pcmisxlz'aiiia  and  Its  Manifold  .Ictiiities 

real  inipclus  in  tliis  period  were  the  Demniler  Works  of  the  United 
States  Iron  and  'J"in  Plate  Manufacturing  Company;  John  Hamilton,  of 
Pittsburgh;  the  Pittsburgh  Electro-Plating  Company;  the  Penn  Treaty 
Iron  Works,  of  Philadelphia,  and  N.  &  G.  Taylor.  It  was  in  this  period 
that  Pennsylvania  established  the  pre-eminent  position  in  this  industry 
that  it  has  since  held. 

Foundry  Products.     Pipe  and  Tubes 

In  the  casting  of  iron  in  its  many  forms — in  the  development  of  the 
foundry  industry,  in  its  scores  of  branches — Pennsylvania  has  long  main- 
tained an  undisputed  lead.  The  handling  of  heavy  material  peculiarly 
requires  the  most  perfect  arrangement  of  plant,  so  that  the  product  may 
move,  as  it  were,  in  a  straight  line  until  it  is  finished.  This  means  a  more 
expeditious  movement,  avoids  rehandling,  and  the  result  is  economy.  In 
the  metal  industries  of  Pennsylvania  special  attention  has  been  given  to 
this  problem,  for  the  solution  of  it  meant  the  maintenance  of  lead  over 
competitors.  Such  perfectly  arranged  plants  as  those  of  the  Baldwin 
Locomotive  Works,  at  Eddystone,  and  the  recently  built  foundry  of  the 
Enterprise  Manufacturing  Company,  at  Cornwells.  are  illustrative  of  the 
trend  of  metal  manufacture  to-day.  Another  illustration  of  this  is  in 
the  great  plants  erected  for  the  manufacture  of  pipe  and  tul^e,  a  branch 
in  which  the  plants  of  the  State  are  pre-eminent,  not  only  for  volume  of 
out])Ut.  but  also  for  that  scientific  arrangement  that  means  maximum 
productive  capacity.  The  making  of  l)ipe.  whether  cast  or  wrought,  is 
one  of  the  many  industries  which  to-day  demand  the  most  modern 
arrangement  and  handling  devices.  No  company  in  the  world  has  paid 
more  attention  to  the  perfecting  of  ]:ilant  than  the  United  States  Steel 
Corporation. 

The  United  States  Steel  pipe  and  tube  subsidiary,  the  National 
Tube  Company,  has  its  central  plant  and  laboratories  at  AIcKeesport,  Pa., 
twelve  miles  east  of  Pittsburgh.  The  AIcKeesport  plant  has  a  length  of 
a  little  over  one  mile,  covering  about  one  hundred  acres. 

At  the  lower  end  of  the  plant  are  situated  the  four  blast  furnaces 
with  their  accessories  of  car  dumper,  ore  bridge,  etc.,  steel  plant,  blooming 
and  slabbing  mills ;  the  slabbing  mill  being  one  of  the  largest  in  the 
world,  and  having  the  largest  electric  shear  ever  built. 

The  skelp  mills  are  in  the  center  of  the  plant,  four  in  number — the 
two  mills  for  the  narrower  plates  being  of  the  continuous-mill  construction. 
The  blooms  go  in  at  one  end,  and.  without   any  handling,  are  received 

192 


Iron  and  Steel  Products 

beyond  the  shear,  cut  to  length,  piled,  and  ready  to  dcli\cr  to  the  trucks 
on  their  way  to  the  tube-  and  pipe-mill  end. 

'i'he  tube-  and  pipe-mill  building  is  approximately  iTxio  feet  long  and 
500  feet  wide,  containing  in  all  23  acres — the  largest  building  under  one 
continuous  roof  in  the  world.  In  this  building  are  12  lap-weld  furnaces, 
two  of  the  butt-mill   furnaces  l)eing  of  the  double-length  type  and  able 


to  produce  pipe  40  feet  in  length.  This  is  true  also  of  No.  i  lap  weld, 
which  is  the  only  double-length  lap-weld  mill  which  has  ever  been  operated. 
It  will  produce  40-foot  lap-weld  pipe  from  3-inch  to  12-inch,  and  has 
been  run  on  even  larger  sizes. 

The  McKeesport  plant  is  claimed  to  be  the  most  perfectly  equipped 
mill  in  the  United  States  in  the  matter  of  safeguards  for  the  protection 
of  employees  from  accident.  The  company  has  expended  upward  of 
$400,000  at  this  one  })lant  in  the  last  three  years  in  specially  designed 
devices  to  insure  the  safety  of  workmen.  The  figures  on  fatal  accidents 
have  been  carefully  kept  by  the  management,  and  although  they  are  not 
made  public  in   detail,   it  is  known  that  the  ratio  of  accidents  to  men 


193 


rcniisylraiiia  and  Its  Manifold  .Ictnitics 

cini)l(>\e(l  and  the  ratio  to  ton  of  out])ut  have  decreased  more  than  50  per 
cent,  in  three  years.  The  National  Tuhe  Company's  McKeesport  plant 
is  one  of  the  few  large  steel-works  and  blast-furnace  groups  in  the 
countr\-  at  which  Sunday  work  has  been  entirely  eliminated  during  the 
last  two  years. 

I'esides  the  Steel  Corporation,  whose  steel-pipe  activities  center  in 
Pittsburgh,  there  are  a  number  of  large  independent  producers  of  steel 
pipe,  including  the  Spang-Chalfant  Company,  with  mills  at  Sharpsburg, 
Pa.,  just  across  the  Allegheny  River  from  the  city  proper.  Further  west, 
at  the  edge  of  the  Pittsburgh  district,  are  the  mills  of  the  Republic  Iron 
and  Steel  C()m])any  and  the  Youngstown  Sheet  and  Tube  Company,  both 
at  Youngstown,  and  the  La  Belle  Iron  Works  Company  at  Steubcnville, 
Ohio. 

Besides  these  producers  of  pipe  in  the  form  most  commonly  known, 
several  concerns  in  Pittsburgh  district  make  a  specialty  of  large-size 
riveted  pipe,  made  from  heavy  steel  plates.  This  is  a  business  all  its 
own.  The  large-size  pipe  for  penstock  work  in  irrigation  enterprises  of 
the  Southwest,  for  the  Los  Angeles  aqueduct,  and  other  heavy  water- 
works construction  enterprises  has  practically  all  come  from  the  Pitts- 
burgh district. 

The  Harrisburg  Pipe  and  Pipe  Bending  Company  has  a  plaiU  in  the 
city  of  Harrisburg,  Pa.,  covering  22^  acres.  It  is  the  largest  plant  of 
its  kind  in  the  world.  The  company  manufactures  the  highest  grade 
of  special  slow-corrosive,  wrought-black,  and  galvanized  pipe,  open-hearth 
steel  ingots,  billets  and  slabs,  coils  and  bends  of  iron,  brass  and  copper 
pipe,  boiler-tube  skelp,  shovel  plate,  nail  plate,  sheet  bars,  seamless  steel 
gas  cvlinders,  feed-water  heaters,  and  pressed-steel  shapes  for  automobile 
parts. 

The  mills  of  A.  M.  Byers  &  Co.,  large  manufacturers  of  iron  pipe, 
are  centered  at  Tittsburgh  and  Girard.  Ohio,  this  company  having  the 
largest  e(|uipment  for  the  production  of  puddled  iron — the  old-time 
product,  which  is  still  ])referred  in  cases  where  corrosion  must  be  specially 
guarded   against — in  the  country. 

The  Standard  Cast  Iron  Pipe  and  I-'oundry  Company  recently  com- 
pleted an  entirely  new  plant  at  Bristol,  Pa.,  which  is  designed  for  a  very 
large  output  of  cast-iron  pipe.  Unlike  many  plants  for  similar  work  which 
have  grown  from  small  beginnings  and  in  expanding  have  been  developed 
in  reference  to  the  arrangements  already  existing,  the  works  are  new  in 
everv  respect  and  laid  out  solely  with  reference  to  the  particular  require- 

194 


Iron  and  Steel  Products 


195 


Pciinsyh-ania  ami  Its  Manifold  .Ictiiitics 

ments  of  a  pi])C  foundry  of  large  capacity.     The  land,  covering  136  acres, 
lies  on  the  west  hank  of  the  Delaware  River. 

Car  Manufacture 

'J'lic  manufacture  n\  steel  cars  in  the  United  States  had  its  inception 
in  I'ittshurgh  in  i8«j7,  when  the  Pressed  Steel  Car  Company  undertook 
an  order  of  r)Oo  cars  for  the  I 'itts])urgh,  Bessemer  and  Lake  Erie  Railroad 
Company.  This  innovation  resulted  in  the  almost  complete  revolution  of 
transportation   methods. 


WORKS    OF    IKI  ~-l  li    -Mil      '     \K    COMPANY,     MC  KEKS    ROCKS,    PA. 

The  Pressed  Steel  Car  Company  operates  two  ])lants  in  Pittslntrgh. 
one  at  McKees  Rocks  and  another  in  the  former  city  of  Allegheny,  while 
the  third  plant  of  lighter  capacity  is  located  near  Chicago.  The  company 
has  a  capacity  of  200  cars  per  day,  and  employs  a  force  of  10,000  men 
when  running  full.  The  plants  of  the  company  occupy  a  total  area  of 
145  acres,  60  of  which  are  covered  with  steel  and  stone  buildings  of 
modern  construction.  The  average  consumption  of  the  company  is 
40,000  tons  of  steel  jjcr  month,  of  which  28.000  is  steel  plate,  making 


196 


Iron  and  Steel  Products 

the  company  iiii(|ucstioiiaI)ly  the  largest  inchxichial  consumers  of  steel  plate 
ill  the  world. 

The  steel  car  and  its  associate,  the  steel  wheel,  have  done  much  to 
improve  and  enlarge  the  carrying  capacity  of  railroads.  As  late  as 
1907  a  capacity  of  100,000  pounds  was  considered  by  railroad  men  to 
be  the  maximum  capacity  that  a  freight  car  could  carry.  Steel  freight 
cars  are  now  being  constructed  for  general  use  with  capacities  up  to 
140,000  pounds,  showing  a  40  per  cent,  increase  in  five  years.  Probably 
the  most  important  later  development  in  the  manufacture  of  steel  cars 
has  been  in  its  application  to  passenger  service.  The  great  railways  of 
America  are  gradually  substituting  their  wooden-car  passenger  equip- 
ment with  all-steel  cars. 

The  I.  G.  Brill  Company,  builder  of  cars  and  trucks,  was  estab- 
lished in  1868  and  has  occupied  its  present  plant  since  1890.  The  plant 
is  located  at  Sixty-second  and  Woodland  Avenue,  Philadelphia,  in  a  "\'" 
formed  by  the  Pennsylvania  and  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad  lines,  and 
occupies  about  thirty  acres.  This  is  the  largest  plant  of  its  kind  in  the 
world,  and,  together  with  the  five  other  plants  owned  and  operated  by 
The  T-  G.  Brill  Companv  in  Missouri,  Illinois,  Ohio,  New  Jersey,  and 
Massachusetts,  has  an  annual  output  amounting  to  $10,000,000.  The 
J.  G.  Brill  Company  and  its  subsidiary  companies  manufacture  both  steam 
and  electric  cars  and  trucks  and  practically  all  of  the  items  used  in  their 
equipment  and  furnishing,  such  as  car  seats,  curtains,  and  truck  springs. 
The  trucks  manufactured  by  The  J.  G.  Brill  Company  cover  all  conditions 
of  city  and  interurban  railways,  and  are  distinguished  from  the  trucks  of 
other  builders  l)y  the  fact  that  they  are  made  with  solid  forged  side 
frames,  a  process  developed  by  this  comi)an}-.  When  it  is  realized  that 
the  requirements  of  city  trucks  are  unusually  severe,  and  the  conditions 
of  operation  exceedingly  complex,  owing  to  the  narrow  car  bodies  and 
large  and  powerful  motors,  heavy  loads,  frequent  starts  and  stops,  and 
frequent  rail  crossings,  it  will  lie  understood  how  great  are  the  difficulties 
and  obstacles  which  have  been  overcome  and  how  carefullv  the  develop- 
ment has  proceeded.  Cars  and  trucks  are  built  at  the  Philadelphia  plant 
for  all  parts  of  the  world  where  horse,  electric,  and  steam  lines  are 
operated. 

Hydraulic  Turium-:s 

With  the  new  era  of  hydro-electric  utilization  of  the  vast  water  power 
in  various  parts  of  the  United  States,  there  has  come  a  rapid  development 
in  the  building  of  hydraulic  turbines.    Among  the  plants  which  have  kept 

197 


Fciiiisyh'aiiiti  and  Its  Manifold  .Icth'ities 

pace  wilii  the  world's  best  practice  in  this  branch  of  manufacture  is  the 
I.  P.  Morris  Machine  Company,  Philadelphia,  a  company  which  is  owned 
and  operated  by  the  William  Cramp  &  Sons'  Ship  and  Engine  Building 
Comjiany.  This  is  one  of  the  oldest  machinery  building  organizations  in 
the  United  States,  its  business  having  been  started  in  1828.  The  first 
hydraulic  turbine  work  undertaken  by  the  company  was  the  construction 
of  seven  turbines  of  the  Geyelin  type,  for  the  Fairmount  Water  Works, 
Philadelphia.  The  first  unit  was  installed  in  185 1,  and  was  among  the 
earliest  turbines  built  in  the  United  States.  The  building  of  the  turbines 
for  the  first  installation  of  the  Niagara  Falls  Power  Company  was  intrusted 
to  the  I.  P.  Morris  Company  by  a  Commission  of  International  Engineers, 
organized  for  the  purpose  of  considering  designs  of  machinery  for  utilizing 
the  power  of  Niagara  Falls.  This  work  was  so  satisfactory  that  the 
company  was  awarded  the  contract  for  the  units  in  the  station  known  as 
Wheelpit  No.  2,  of  the  Niagara  Falls  Power  Company,  and  was  awarded 
the  contract  for  two  wheels  in  the  plant  of  the  Canadian  Niagara  Power 
Company.  A  list  of  the  turbine  wheels  made  by  the  I.  P.  ]\Iorris  Company 
includes  many  of  the  largest  made  in  the  last  ten  years  for  the  principal 
power-developing  enterprises  of  the  United  States,  Mexico,  and  Canada. 

Bridge  Building 

Many  of  the  largest  bridges  in  the  world  have  been  turned  out  from 
Pennsylvania  shops.  The  Pencoyd  Iron  Works,  Philadelphia,  now  an 
underlying  plant  of  the  American  Bridge  Company,  has  long  been  success- 
ful in  the  erection  of  these  immense  structures.  At  the  present  time  the 
American  Bridge  Company  is  engaged  in  putting  in  place  the  St.  Louis 
Municipal  Bridge,  for  the  city  of  St.  Louis,  which  will  consist  of  three 
668-foot  through-pin  spans.  These  are  the  longest  through-pin  connected 
spans  of  simple  type  that  have  ever  been  built.  They  carry  a  double-track 
railroad,  and  above  that  a  highway.  The  main  spans  are  of  nickel  steel ; 
the  trusses  are  10  feet  deep  and  65  feet  from  high  water  to  clearance  line, 
and  about  115  feet  from  high  water  to  rock,  making  approximately  290 
feet  from  the  to])  of  the  structure  to  solid  foundations.  Besides  the  main 
spans  in  connection  with  this  bridge  the  company  is  also  furnishing  and 
erecting  about  2500  feet  of  steel  viaduct,  making  the  total  length  of  the 
bridge  with  the  viaduct  approaches  4470  feet,  or  nearly  seven-eighths  of  a 
mile. 

The  Phoenix  Iron  Company,  of  Phoenixville,  has  also  built  several 

198 


Iron  and  Steel  Products 

large  bridges  in  recent  years.  It  has  recently  been  awarded  a  contract  by 
the  Indian  Government  for  a  bridge  over  the  Jumna  River,  whicli  will  be 
looo  feet  long — one  of  the  largest  bridges  in  the  Orient. 

The  Westinghouse  Industries 

One  of  the  notable  industries  of  Pennsylvania  is  that  of  the  West- 
inghouse  Companies,  in  the  Pittsburgh  district.     The  plants  are  situated 


WESTINGHOUSE    WORKS,     PITTSBURGH,     SHOWING    ELECTRK      Ijkii.MuTIM- 

in  the  valley  that  extends  east  from  the  city  along  the  Pennsylvania 
Railroad.  They  include  the  following  companies,  mentioned  in  order 
of  their  organization:  Westinghouse  Air  Brake  Company,  1869;  West- 
inghouse  Machine  Company,  1881  ;  The  Union  Switch  and  Signal 
Company,  1882;  Westinghouse  Electric  and  Manufacturing  Company, 
1886;  Pittsburgh  Meter  Company,  1893.  The  Westinghouse  industries 
located  in  the  city  of  Pittsburgh  are:  R.  D.  Nuttall  &  Co.,  1888,  and 
Nernst  Lamp  Company,  1901. 

The  W^estinghouse  Air  Brake  Company  employs  about  4500  men, 
occupies  30  acres,  including  over  20  acres  of  floor  space,  and  has  a 
capacity  of  over  one  thousand  brake  sets  per  day.     It  is  the  largest  brake 


199 


Pcinisxk'aiiia  a)id  Its  Manifold  Actb'itics 

manufacturing  i)lant  in  the  world.  It  has  equipped  2,580,000  cars  and 
72,000  locomotives  with  air  brakes,  and  300,000  cars  and  6000  locomotives 
with  friction-draft  gear. 

The  Westinghouse  Machine  Company  are  manufacturers  of  steam 
turbines,  engines,  etc.  The  plant  employs  2150  men  and  occupies  12  acres 
of  floor  space. 

The  Union  Switch  and  Signal  Company,  located  at  Swissvale,  eight 
miles  east  of  Pittsburgh,  manufactures  signaling  and  interlocking  appa- 
ratus. It  occupies  40  acres,  including  534,000  square  feet  of  floor  space, 
and  employs  3000  men.  This  company  was  the  pioneer  in  protecting  rail- 
road traffic  by  fixed  signals  and  interlocks. 

The  Westinghouse  Electric  and  Manufacturing  Company,  located  at 
East  Pittsburgh,  twelve  miles  from  Pittsburgh,  employs  14,000  people 
and  has  50  acres  of  floor  space  under  one  roof.  It  manufactures  a  wide 
variety  of  electrical  appliances,  from  a  sad  iron  to  the  largest  electric 
locomotive.  The  monthly  pay-roll  averages  over  $700,000,  and  the  monthly 
output  averages  750  carloads. 

The  Pittsburgh  Meter  Company,  located  at  East  Pittsburgh,  twelve 
miles  from  Pittsburgh,  has  a  daily  capacity  of  400  water  meters,  300  gas 
meters,  and  about  six  proportional  gas  meters. 

The  R.  D.  Nuttall  Company,  Pittsburgh,  manufactures  cut  and  planed 
gears  and  pinions,  flexible  cushion  couplings  and  overhead  car  equipment. 
It  occupies  floor  space  of  250,000  square  feet. 

Hardware  Manufacture 

In  its  i)roduction  of  hardware,  Pennsylvania  has  borne  a  high  reputa- 
tion for  quality.  The  industry  has  centered  in  Philadelphia,  and,  as  a 
type  illustrative  of  a  general  reputation  for  excellence,  the  saw  works  of 
Henry  Disston  &  Sons  at  Tacony,  near  Philadelphia,  may  be  cited.  Disston 
•saws  are  known  for  their  excellence  throughout  the  world,  and  it  is 
because  every  step  in  their  making  is  safeguarded  that  this  reputation  is 
maintained.  So  that  they  may  know  the  steel,  the  Disston  works  make 
the  steel  themselves,  and  the  same  attention  is  bestowed  on  every  process. 
The  Disston  plant  to-day  covers  50  acres  of  ground  ;  there  are  58  buildings 
and  3500  skilled  workmen  are  employed. 

The  same  character  of  reputation  which  this  plant  bears  is  held  also 
by  Philadelphia  manufacturers  in  a  dozen  lines  of  hardware.  Files,  edge 
tools — an  infinite  variety  of  Philadelphia  hardware — has  the  same  high 
repute  as  the  Disston  product. 


Ships  and  Locomotives 

A  MOXG  American  waters,  the  Delaware  has  led  in  the  art  of  ship- 
/\  hnilding.  Within  three  years  after  Penn  signed  his  charter  he 
X  ^  l^i^iilt  in  Philadelphia  a  ship  called  the  "Amity,"  and  ever  since, 
despite  the  decadence  of  the  American  merchant  marine,  shipbuilding 
has  borne  an  important  part  among  the  industries  that  line  the  Delaware 
River.  It  is  a  noteworthy  fact  that  in  the  last  great  war,  that  between 
Japan  and  Russia,  Delaware  River  shipbuilding  was  represented  on  both 
sides  of  the  conflict.  A  great  part  of  the  navy  of  the  United  States  of 
the  past  and  of  the  present,  including  some  of  the  most  powerful  and 
heaviest  of  the  latest  type  of  battleship  construction,  were  turned  out  in 
Delaware  River  yards. 

Most  notable  of  these  yards,  not  only  because  of  its  extent,  but 
also  because  of  the  part  that  it  has  taken  in  the  upbuilding  of  the  United 
States  Navy,  is  that  of  the  William  Cramp  &  Sons  Ship  and  Engine 
Building  Company  in  Kensington,  Philadelphia.  This  yard  was  estab- 
lished by  W'illiam  Cramp  in  1830,  at  the  foot  of  Otis  Street,  and  later 
occupied  a  tract  at  the  foot  of  Palmer  Street. 

In  1872  the  business  had  outgrown  the  Palmer  Street  yard,  and 
about  one-third  of  the  water  front  of  the  present  establishment  was 
purchased.  In  March  of  that  year  the  company  as  it  now  exists  was 
-incorporated  under  its  present  name,  "The  William  Cramp  &  Sons  Ship 
and  Engine  Building  Company." 

In  1891  the  Cramp  Company  obtained  control  of  the  I.  P.  Morris 
Machine  Company,  and  in  1899- 1900  large  additions  were  made  to  the 
plant,  comprising  additional  building  slips  and  water  front,  a  large  new 
machine  shop,  and  a  new  power  plant. 

The  first  of  the  men-of-war  built  at  Cramps"  was  the  ironclatl  "Xew 
Ironsides,"  built  in  1862.  In  the  following  year  the  gunboat  "Wyalusing" 
and  the  monitor  '■Vaz(X)"  were  constructed,  and  two  years  later  the 
cruiser  "Chattanooga."  Following  these,  there  was  a  lapse  of  nine 
vears  l)efore  the  building  of  another  warship,  when  the  monitor  "Terror" 
was  l)uilt.  The  year  1890  saw  the  turning  out  of  four  warships,  and 
following    these    were    se\eral    cruisers    and    coast    defense    battleshijxs. 


Ponisyli'aiiia  and  Its  Manifold  Activities 

Among  first-class  battleships,  the  first  to  be  turned  out  from  the  yard 
was  the  "Alabama."  Warships  built  since  1900  for  the  United  States 
Government  are : 

Contract 

Name  Type  ,-.        I-ength     lireadth         Draft     Displacement      Speed 

■-^"'  (Knots* 

Alabama— First-class  battleship.  .    1900  368  72^^  23^4  ii,570  i/.oi 

Maine— First-class    battleship 1902  388  72  23K  12,500  18 

Colorado— Armored  cruiser   1905  502  69I/2  24  '/la  13,780  22.24 

Pennsylvania — Armored    cruiser.    1905  502  69"^  24  V12  13,780  22.44 

Tennessee — Armored   cruiser 1906  502  72^  25  14.500  22.16 

Mississippi — First-class  battleship  1908  375  77  2473  13,000  17.11 

Idaho— First-class    battleship 1908  375  77  24 'A  13,000  17.14 

South  Carolina — First-class  b'ship  1909  450  80  241/^  16,000  19.25 
Joseph    B.    Smith — Torpedo-boat 

destroyer     1909  289  26  8  700  28 

Roswell    H.    Lamson — Torpedo- 
boat    destroyer    1909  289  26            8  700  28 

Lewis     Warrington  —  Torpedo- 
boat    destroyer    1909  289  26            8'/3  742  30 

John  Mayrant — Torpedo-boat  de- 
stroyer         1909  289  26  8V3  742  30 

Thrasher  —  Submarine    torpedo 

boat     1909  

Cyclops — Collier    1909  520  65  27^2  19,200  14 

Patterson  —  Torpedo-boat      de- 
stroyer         1909  289  26^  8V3  742  29.50 

Wyoming — First-class    battleship  1909  554  93  28^  26,000  20.50 

There  are  now  building  five  torpedo-boat  destroyers.  These  are  novel 
in  American  construction,  in  that  they  have  a  combination  of  reciprocating 
engines  with  turbine  engines.  The  reciprocating  engines  are  to  be  used 
for  cruising  at  low  speed,  while  at  high  speeds  these  \\\\\  be  dropped  out 
of  service  and  the  turbine  engines  used.  There  are  to  be  three  screws, 
two  for  the  turbines  and  one  for  the  reciprocating  engines.  These  boats 
are  to  be  300  feet  long  and  to  have  a  speed  of  2gy2  knots. 

The  yard  also  has  contracts  with  the  Cuban  Government  for  an 
i8-knot,  2000-ton  cruiser,  to  be  known  as  the  "Cuba,"  and  a  1200-ton, 
i6-knot,  gunboat,  to  be  known  as  the  "Patria."  There  are  also  contracts 
with  the  Lehigh  Coal  Mining  Company  for  six  1200-ton  sea-going  barges, 
and  with  W.  R.  Grace  &  Co.  for  a  combination  freight  and  passenger 
steamer  of  5000  gross  tonnage,  to  be  used  on  the  Pacific  coast.  This  ship 
is  to  be  384  feet  long  and  will  use  oil  as  fuel. 

The  Cramp  yard  has  turned  out  six  men-of-war  for  the  Russian 
navy.  In  1879  the  corvettes  "Asia,"  "Africa,"  and  "Europe"  were  built; 
in  1880,  the  cruiser  "Zabiaka" ;  in  1901,  the  protected  cruiser  "Variag," 
having  a  speed  of  2314  knots;  and  in  1902,  the  first-class  battleship 
"Retvizan."      For    the    Japanese    navy,    the    protected    cruiser    "Kasagi"' 

202 


Shifts  and  Locomotives 

was  built  sliortly  before  the  Russian- Japanese  war,  and  for  the  Ottoman 
navy,  the  protected  cruiser  "Medjidia." 

The  total  number  of  vessels  of  all  descriptions  built  or  building 
since  1830  is  about  375,  and  the  number  of  marine  engines  is  290.  Over 
one  hundred  of  the  steamers  included  in  the  above  number  range  between 


^EaS®^2£). 


EVOLUTION    OF    THE    LOCOMOTIVE,    BALDWIN    LOCOMOTIVE    WORKS 

1000  and  12,500  tons  register,  while  the  balance  of  the  list  is  made  up  of 
steamboats,  tugs,  and  yachts,  with  28  first-class  sailing  vessels  and  100 
craft  for  various  special  uses.  This  yard  has  the  distinction  of  having 
turned  out  the  only  trans- Atlantic  liners  built  in  the  United  States. 

New  York  Shipbuilding  Company 
The  New  York  Shipbuilding  Company,  which  has  its  plant  in  the 
port  of  Philadelphia  at  the  lower  end  of  the  city  of  Camden,  is  one  of 
the  most  progressive  of  American  yards.  The  company  was  organized 
in  1898,  and  the  work  of  constructing  the  buildings  started  in  the  summer 
of  1899.  The  next  year,  June  15,  1900,  the  contract  was  signed  for  the 
first  ship,  and  within  six  months  contracts  had  been  taken  for  eight 
ships  aggregating  125,000  tons  displacement.     Even  in  the  face  of  keen 


203 


Pontsyiz'ania  and  Its  Manifold  .Ictii'ities 

C()in])ctitii)ii  ill  all  lines  of  ship  coiistniclion  the  growth  of  the  yard  has 
been  steady,  and  its  reputation  has  been  established  for  good  workmanshii) 
and  prompt  delivery.  Its  modern  equipment,  with  pneumatic,  hydraulic, 
and  electric  tools  and  crane  service  over  all  shops  and  over  ships,  both 
on  and  ofif  the  ways,  which  are  under  cover,  combined  with  a  close 
inspection  by  its  officials  of  the  work  as  it  progresses,  maintains  a  high 
standard  in  quality  of  output. 

In  1903  the  company  launched  the  two  615-foot  freight  and  passenger 
steamers  "Mongolia"  and  "Manchuria,"  the  largest  ships  launched  on 
the  Delaware  River,  and  now  plying  the  Pacific  between  San  Francisco 
and  Hong  Kong.  China,  via  Hawaiian   Islands,   Philippines  and  Japan. 

During  that  year  the  keel  was  laid  for  the  first  government  contract, 
the  cruiser  "Washington,"  14,500  tons,  launched  March  18,  1905.  This 
was  followed  by  the  following  warships: 

Battleship  "Kansas."  16,000  tons,  launched  August  12,  1905  ;  battle- 
ship "New  Hampshire,"  16,000  tons,  launched  June  30,  1906;  battleship 
"Michigan,"  16,000  tons,  launched  May  26,  1908;  battleship  "Utah," 
21,825  tons,  launched  December  23,  1909;  battleship  "Arkansas,"  26,000 
tons,  launched  January  14.  191 1;  torpedo-boat  destroyer  "P'reston."  700 
tons,  launched  July  14.  1909;  torpedo-boat  destroyer  "McCall."  740  tons, 
launched  June  4,  igio;  torpedo-boat  destroyer  "P>urrows,"  740  tons, 
launched  June  23,  1910;  torpedo-boat  destroyer  "Ammen,"  740  tons, 
launched  September  20,  1910;  torpedo-boat  destroyer  "Jarvis."  740  tons, 
still  on  the  ways ;  torpedo-boat  destroyer  "Downes,"  1050  tons,  still  on 
the  ways. 

During  this  interval  were  constructed  numerous  freight  and  passenger 
steamers,  lightships,  tugs,  dredges,  lighthouse  tenders,  revenue  cutters, 
colliers,  car  floats,  oil  tankers,  barges,  mine  planters,  and  ferryboats,  so 
that  in  less  than  ten  years  from  the  delivery  of  the  first  contract  the 
company  is  now  constructing  the  125th  vessel. 

The  yard  is  now  completing  for  the  Argentine  Government  the 
battleship  "Moreno,"  28.000  tons,  launched  September  23,  191 1,  the  largest 
battleship  afloat,  and  for  the  Chinese  government  a  protected  cruiser 
that  will  be  used  as  a  training  ship. 

Baldwin   Locomotivk   Works 

The  P)al(lwin  Locomotive  \\^^rks,  Phila(leli)hia,  were  the  first  estab- 
lisliment  in  the  United  States  to  be  devoted  exclusively  to  the  manu- 
facture of  locomotives.     The  first  of  the  many  thousands  of  locomotives 

204 


S.'iif^s  and  Locomotii'cs 

which  il  has  turned  out,  "(^d  Ironsides."  was  the  niar\el  of  its  day.  and 
in  the  de\  elopnient  of  locomotive  types,  from  that  day  to  the  present,  it 
has  easily  heen  the  leader  in  this  country.  Not  only  are  its  locomotives 
to-day  hauling  the  hea\y  freight  and  fast  passenger  trains  on  many 
leading  American  roads,  but  they  constitute  an  important  part  of  the 
equij^ment  of  roads  in  various  foreign  countries. 


BALDWIN     LOCOMOTIVE     WORKS,     PH ILAIIELPHIA.      GEAR-CUTTING     SHOP 

Matthias  W.  Ualchvin,  the  founder  of  the  establishment,  learned 
the  trade  of  a  jeweler,  and  entered  the  service  of  Fletcher  &:  Gardiner, 
jewelers  and  silversmiths,  Philadelphia,  in  1817.  Two  years  later  he 
opened  a  small  shop,  in  the  same  line  of  business,  on  his  own  acccnmt. 
The  demand  for  articles  of  this  character  falling  ofif,  how^ever,  he  formed 
a  partnership,  in  1825.  with  David  Alason.  a  machinist,  in  the  manufacture 
of  bookbinders'  tools  and  cylinders  for  calico  printing. 

In  1829-30  the  use  of  steam  as  a  motive  power  on  railroads  had 
begun  to  engage  the  attention  of  American  engineers.  A  few  locomotives 
had  been  imported  from  England,  and  one — which,  however,  was  not 
successful — had  been  constructed  at  the  West  Point  Foundry,  in  New 
York  City.     To  gratify  the  public  interest  in  the  new  motor,   Franklin 


205 


Pennsylvania  and  Its  Manifold  Activities 

Peale,  then  proprietor  of  the  Philculel])hia  Aluseuni,  applied  to  Mr.  Bald- 
win to  construct  a  miniature  locomotive  for  exhibition  in  his  establishment. 
With  the  aid  only  of  the  imperfect  published  descriptions  and  sketches 
of  the  locomotives  which  had  taken  part  in  the  Rainhill  competition  in 
England,  Mr.  Baldwin  undertook  the  work,  and  on  the  25th  of  April,  183 1, 
the  miniature  locomotive  was  put  in  motion. 

The  success  of  the  model  was  such  that,  in  the  same  year.  Mr.  Bald- 
win received  an  order  for  a  locomotive  from  the  Philadelphia,  German- 
town  and  Norristown  Railroad  Company,  whose  short  line  of  six  miles 
to  Germantown  was  operated  by  horse  power.  The  Camden  and  Amboy 
Railroad  Company  had  shortly  before  imported  a  locomotive  from  Eng- 
land, wdiich  was  stored  in  a  shed  at  Bordentown.  It  had  not  yet  been  put 
together ;  but  Mr.  Baldwin,  in  company  with  his  friend,  Mr.  Peale,  visited 
the  spot,  inspected  the  detached  parts,  and  made  a  few  memoranda  of 
some  of  its  principal  dimensions.  Guided  by  these  figures  and  his 
experience  with  the  Peale  model,  Mr.  Baldwin  commenced  the  task.  The 
difficulties  to  be  overcome  in  filling  the  order  can  hardly  be  appreciated 
at  this  day.  There  were  few  mechanics  competent  to  do  any  part  of 
the  work  on  a  locomotive.  Suitable  tools  were  with  difficulty  obtainable. 
Cylinders  were  bored  by  a  chisel  fixed  in  a  block  of  wood  and  turned  by 
hand.  Blacksmiths  able  to  weld  a  bar  of  iron  exceeding  one  and  one- 
quarter  inches  in  thickness  were  few,  or  not  to  be  had.  It  was  necessary 
for  Air.  Baldwin  to  do  much  of  the  work  with  his  own  hands,  to  educate 
the  workmen  who  assisted  him,  and  to  improvise  tools  for  the  various 
processes. 

The  work  was  prosecuted,  nevertheless,  under  all  these  difficulties, 
and  the  locomotive  was  fully  completed,  christened  "Old  Ironsides,"  and 
tried  on  the  road  November  23,  1832. 

The  "Ironsides"  was  a  four-wheeled  engine,  modeled  essentially  on 
the  English  practice  of  that  day,  as  shown  in  the  "Planet"  class,  and 
weighed,  in  running  order,  something  over  five  tons.  This  pioneer  loco- 
motive attained  a  speed  of  thirty  miles  an  hour,  with  its  usual  train 
attached. 

The  total  number  of  locomotives  built  each  year  since  1906  is  as 
follows:  1907,  2655;  1908,  617;  1909,  1024;  1910,  1675;  191 1,  1606. 
Locomotive  No.  31000  was  built  in  1907,  No.  32000  in  1907,  No.  33000 
in  1908;  No.  34000  in  1909,  No.  35000  in  1910,  No.  36000  in  191 1, 
No.  37000  in  191 1,  No.  37500  in  January,  1912. 

Since    1907   practically    all    the    extension    of    the    works    has    been 

206 


Shifts  ami  Lncoiiioti-T'cs 

carried  on  at  Etldystone.  between  I'liiladelphia  and  Chester.  This  plant 
consists  of  twenty-six  bnildings,  which  are  located  on  a  tract  of  224  acres. 
The  principal  buildings  are  one  story  in  height,  and  are  of  fire-proof 
construction,  with  steel  frames,  hollow  terra-cotta  tile  walls,  and  cement 
tile  roofs.  The  plant  now  includes  an  erecting  shop,  which  is  specially 
arranged  and  equipped  for  erecting  locomotives  of  the  largest  types. 


MALLET     ARTICULATED     LOCOMOTIVE,     lU   11 


The  first  Mallet  articulated  locomotives  of  the  2-8-8-2  type  were 
built  for  the  Southern  Pacific  Company  in  April,  1909.  These  locomotives 
were  designed  for  freight  service  on  the  Sacramento  Division  of  the 
Central  Pacific  Railroad,  where  the  maximum  grade  is  2.2  per  cent. 
Subsequent  locomotives  of  this  type  have  been  built  to  run  with  the  cab 
end  leading,  in  order  to  give  the  enginemen  an  unobstructed  view  of  the 
track.  In  191 1,  twelve  locomotives  of  the  2-6-6-2  type  were  built  and 
placed  in  passenger  service  on  this  division.  These  engines  are  in  many 
respects  similar  to  the  freight  locomotives,  and  are  run  with  the  cab  end 
leading.     All  these  Mallet  locomotives  use  oil  as  fuel. 

In  November,  1909,  a  Mallet  unit  was  built  for  the  Great  Northern 
Railway  and  was  applied  to  the  front  end  of  an  existing  Consolidation 
engine,  thus  converting  the  latter  to  a  Mallet  articulated  locomotive  with 
2-6-8-0-wheel  arrangement.  A  limited  number  of  locomotives  on  other 
roads  have  been  rebuilt  in  this  way.  Among  them  are  ten  locomotives  on 
the  Atchison,  Topeka  and  Santa  Fe  Railway,  which  have  been  changed 
from  the  2-10-2  type  to  the  2-10-10-2  type.  These  are  the  largest  locomo- 
tives at  present  in  service,  weighing  each  616,000  pounds. 


207 


Pcniisyhi'Oiiid  and  Its  Manifold  .Ictii'itics 

Jn  1910  a  locomotive  willi  an  articulated  boiler  and  2-6-6-2-\vheel 
arrangement  was  built  for  the  Atchison,  Topeka  and  Santa  Fe  Railway. 
The  boiler  joint  is  composed  of  a  series  of  steel  rings,  which  are  fastened 
together  to  ti>rm  a  bellows-shaped  structure,  tluis  ])roviding  the  necessary 
flexibility.  The  front  boiler  section  contains  a  feed-water  heater,  and  is 
rigidly  secured  to  the  frames.  This  type  of  articulated  locomotive  is  the 
invention  of  Samuel  M.  \  auclain.  Four  additional  locomotives  of  this 
t\])e  were  built  in   191 1. 

A  Mik;ul()-ty])e  locomotive.  s]iecially  equij)ped  for  burning  lignite, 
was  built  for  the  (Jregon  Railroad  and  Navigation  Company  in  1910. 
This  locomotive  proved  remarkably  successful  and  was  followed  in  191 1 
by  10 1  similar  engines,  which  were  widely  distributed  over  the  associ- 
ated lines.  \\\  using-  low-grade  fuel  from  supplies  near  at  hand,  these 
locomotives  ett'ect  substantial  economies  when  compared  with  locomo- 
tives burning  good  coal  which  must  be  hauled  from  distant  mines. 

During  the  year  191 1,  forty  Pacific-type  and  160  Mikado-type  locomo- 
tives were  completed  for  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad.  Thirty  of 
the  Pacific  and  twenty  of  the  Mikado-type  locomotives  were  eqtiipped 
with  superheaters.  These  engines  are  remarkable  because  of  the  large 
number  of  parts  which  are  interchangeable  in  the  two  types. 

A  notable  order  for  export,  filled  in  191 1,  consisted  of  twenty  locomo- 
tives of  the    lo-wheeled   type   for  the   X'ictorian   Government   Railways. 

An  imi)ortant  order  filled  in  December,  191 1,  and  January,  1912, 
called  for  fifty  locomoti\es  of  the  Pacific  type  for  the  New  "S'ork  Central 
and  Hudson  River  Railroad.  Thirty  of  these  engines  are  for  freight 
service  and  twenty  for  passenger  service.  These  locomotives  were  built 
with  unusual  dispatch,  in  accordance  with  designs  and  specifications  fur- 
nished by  the  railroad  company.  The  Atchison,  Topeka  and  Santa  Fe 
Railway  also  received  twenty-eight  Pacific-type  locomotives  with  bal- 
anced compound  cylinders.  In  accordance  with  recent  practice  on  this 
road,  these  engines  have  sectional  fireboxes  of  the  Jacobs-Shupert  type. 

1^he  ])artners]iip  of  P.urnham,  Williams  &  Co.,  entered  into  in  1891, 
and  last  renewed  in  1907,  was  dissolved  July  I,  1909,  and  a  stock  com- 
pany under  the  name  of  Baldwin  Locomotive  Works  was  incorporated, 
with  John  H.  Converse  as  president.     Mr.  Converse  died  May  3.   1910. 

( )n  July  T,  191 1,  the  entire  property  owned  by  Baldwin  Locomotive 
Works  was  sold  to  a  new  corporation.  The  Baldwin  Locomotive 
Works.     This  is  a  public  joint  stock  company. 


208 


The  Textile  Industries 

FOLLOWING  iron  and  steel  manufacture  in  the  order  of  importance 
comes  the  vast  textile  industry  of  the  State,  which  is  centered  in 
the  city  of  Philadelphia,  but  which  represents  a  very  large  part  of 
the  manufactured  output  of  many  of  the  other  cities  of  the  State.  When 
it  is  realized  that  the  value  of  Pennsylvania  production  of  silk  alone  is, 
approximately,  $60,000,000  annually,  and  that  woolens,  yarns,  and  allied 
lines  represent  a  far  greater  amount,  a  conception  will  be  gained  of  the 
extent  of  this  branch  in  the  State.  In  kindred  lines  there  has  been  a 
notable  advance  in  recent  years.  Twenty  years  ago,  for  instance,  virtu- 
ally no  tapestries  were  made  in  America.  So  far  as  the  United  States  are 
concerned,  this  industry  was  created  by  Pennsylvania  enterprise,  and  up 
to  five  years  ago  more  than  90  per  cent,  of  all  American-made  tapestries 
were  turned  out  from  the  looms  of  this  State.  In  the  same  way  the  lace 
curtain  industry  has  sprung  up  within  two  decades.  Whereas,  prior  to 
1895  virtually  all  of  the  lace  curtains  in  American  homes  came  from  the 
factories  of  the  old-world  centers  of  Nottingham,  Calais,  Plauen,  and 
St.  Gall,  to-day  eastern  Pennsylvania  has  the  largest  lace  curtain  estab- 
lishments in  the  world.  The  industry,  started  in  Philadelphia,  is  spreading 
to  other  cities  of  the  State. 

The  position  of  Pennsylvania  in  the  textile  world  to-day  has  been  a 
matter  of  steady  growth,  beginning  soon  after  the  founding  of  the  colony. 
As  early  as  1700  hosiery  was  made  in  Germantown  by  the  Mennonites, 
who  brought  rough  frames  from  Germany  and  set  them  up  in  their  homes. 
Later,  English  knitters  came  from  Leicester  and  Nottingham,  bringing 
with  them  improved  frames,  which  speedily  gave  them  advantage  over  the 
Mennonite  makers.  The  first  knitting  mill  in  the  country  was  established 
in  Germantown,  in  1825,  by  Thomas  R.  Fisher.  Prior  to  this  time  all  of 
the  hosiery  made  in  this  country  was  turned  out  in  the  homes  of  the 
knitters.  To-day  there  are  188  establishments  in  the  State  engaged  in  the 
making  of  hosiery  alone,  and  the  value  of  the  output  is  approximately 
$30,000,000.  Philadelphia,  with  an  output  in  excess  of  $15,000,000,  easily 
exceeds  any  other  city  in  the  country  in  the  extent  of  this  industry. 

Carpets  were  first  made  in  this  country  in  1775  by  William  Calverly, 

209 


Pcitiisylz'aiiiii  and  Its  Manifold  .Ictivities 

in  l'liila(leli)liia.  IJe  was  followed  by  William  I'.  Spraguc,  who  made 
Turkish  and  Axininster  carpets  in  Philadelphia  as  early  as  1791.  One  of 
Mr.  Si:)rague's  productions  was  a  handmade  tufted  carpet  adorned  with 
patrititic  emblems  for  the  floor  of  the  LInited  States  Senate.  "J'his  resulted 
in  Alexander  1  lamilton  having  a  tariff  of  from  5  to  7)/  per  cent,  laid  on 
all   such    imported   stuffs,   so   as   to  encourage   tlieir   hoiuc   manufacture. 


A   GLIMPSE   OF    PHILADELPHIA  S    CARPET    INDUSTRY 


Dorsey  followed  with  a  carpet,  half  oilcloth  and  half  carpet,  seven  feet 
wide;  he  was  succeeded  by  Macauley  in  i80(S,  who  developed  the  manu- 
facture of  Kidderminster,  or  Scotch  carpets,  known  in  the  United  States 
as  ingrain  carpets.  This  was  the  beginning  of  the  enormous  ingrain 
carpet  industry  of  Philadelphia. 

It  is  but  a  few  years  since  two  or  three  wards  in  the  city  of  Phila- 
delphia made  more  carpets  than  all  the  rest  of  the  country  coiubined. 
That  was,  however,  in  tlie  day  when  there  was  a  big  market  for  ingrain 
carpets  in  the  United  States.  Quarter  of  a  century  ago  many  of  the 
homes  along  the  Atlantic  seaboard  had  ingrains  covering  their  floors. 
Then,  with  the  increase  in  prosperity,  the  East  began  to  demand  finer 
Hoor   coverings   and   to   reject   ingrains.      The   market   moved   westward. 


I'lic    icxtilc  fiuhistrics 

and  still  the  inj^rain  mills  were  kept  ruiiiiing  at  ca])acity,  but,  with  the 
marvelous  new  prosperity  of  the  Middle  West  and  West,  these  sections 
also  began  to  demand  Brussels  and  velvets  and  wiltons,  and  the  market 
for  ingrains  rapidly  contracted. 

The  manner  in  which  the  carpet  mills  met  this  new  trade  situatio!i 
is  a  chapter  that  demonstrates  the  resourcefulness  of  Pennsylvania  manu- 


CARPET    INDUSTRY,    PHILADELPHIA 


facture.  The  ingrain  capacity  has  been  gradually  contracted  in  compliance 
with  the  market,  and  the  mills,  as  necessity  demanded,  went  to  other 
branches.  Those  mills  that  still  make  ingrains — and  the  production  is 
still  large — have  improved  the  character  of  their  goods  to  command  a 
market.  Many  devote  part  of  their  capacity  to  the  making  of  rugs.  In 
some  cases  new  specialties  were  in\ented  which  took  the  place  of  the 
manufacture  of  ingrain.  To-day  there  are  no  such  number  of  carpet 
looms  in  operation  as  formerlw  in  the  same  restricted  territory,  vet  the 
State  still  holds  its  lead  in  this  line  of  activity. 

Pennsylvania,  though  settled  by  I'enn  sixty  years  after  the  New  Eng- 
land States,  early  held  a  prominent  jjosition  in  the  manufacture  of  cotton 
goods.     The  first   si)inning-jenny   seen   in   this  countr\-   was  exhibited   at 


Pennsylvania  and  Its  Manifold  Activities 

Philadelphia  in  1775.  The  first  joint-stock  company  in  the  United  States 
and  probably  the  first  company  to  make  cotton  goods  was  organized  in 
Philadelphia  in  1775,  and  known  as  "The  United  States  Company  of 
Philadelphia  for  Promoting  American  Manufactures."  Slater,  the  pioneer 
of  the  cotton  manufacturing  industry  in  New  England,  was  induced  to 
come  to  this  country  through  a  notice  in  a  newspaper  that  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Legislature  in  1788  had  granted  a  premium  of  iio  to  John  Hague 
for  introducing  a  machine  for  carding  cotton.  The  first  calico  printing 
done  in  the  United  States  was  by  John  Hewson  in  1789  at  Philadelphia. 
This  is  one  of  the  branches  in  which,  to-day,  Pennsylvania  excels  in  its 
manufacture  of  specialties.  The  staple  lines  of  cotton  production  have 
gone  to  other  districts,  and  in  recent  years  there  has  been  a  marvelous 
increase  in  the  number  of  spindles  in  the  South,  by  the  side  of  the  cotton 
fields.  Pennsylvania  manufacture  of  cotton  is  now  represented,  largely, 
by  lace  curtains  and  tapestries,  although,  of  course,  in  this  last-named 
branch  of  manufacture,  there  are  used  considerably  more  than  a  hundred 
dififerent  grades  of  yarn  in  cotton,  silk,  linen,  and  jute.  The  output  of 
prints  is  still  large,  one  of  the  leaJ:"^.-  .  :tablishments  in  this  line  being 
the  Eddystone  Print  Works,  near  'Jbc-:?r. 

The  first  silk  manufacture  in  the  v.  nited  States  was  in  Philadelphia 
in  181 5,  when  W.  H.  Horstmann  made  silk  trimmings.  This  firm  still 
continues  to  manufacture  trimmings  and  other  fonns  of  silk  manufacture. 
They  were  the  first  to  introduce  the  Jacquard  loom  into  this  country. 
State  figures  for  1910  give  the  number  of  silk  establishments  in  Pennsyl- 
vania as  185  and  the  total  production,  approximately,  $60,000,000  annually. 
The  city  of  Scranton  and  the  district  within  a  radius  of  sixteen  miles 
handles  one-third  of  all  the  raw  silk  that  comes  into  the  United  States, 
and  there  are  located  here  some  of  the  world's  largest  plants  in  this  line 
of  industry.  Several  of  the  other  cities  of  the  State  have  important  silk 
mills. 

Textiles  are  the  foundation  of  the  Philadelphia  industrial  structure. 
Important  as  are  the  shipyards  of  the  city,  its  locomotive  shops,  and  its 
various  mills  which  turn  out  the  greater  iron  and  steel  products,  yet  its 
looms  and  the  various  processes  in  the  manufacture  of  textile  fabrics  give 
employment  to  by  far  the  greater  number  of  workmen  and  operatives. 
Virtually  all  classes  and  grades  of  worsted  and  woolen  fabrics  are  made 
in  the  multitude  of  mills.  Carpets  constitute  the  great  volume  of  manu- 
facture, yet  the  finest  in  women's  wear  and  in  men's  suitings,  and  the 
greatest  range  of  specialties,  are  covered  by  the  Philadelphia  mills  in  this 

212 


The  Textile  Industries 

field.  There  is  a  popular  belief  that  New  England  leads  the  country 
in  textile  manufacture.  Yet  the  combined  output  of  the  factories  of  the 
three  largest  textile  manufacturing  cities  of  New  England  does  not  equal 
that  of  Philadelphia's  mills. 

This  misconception  is  doubtless  due  in  great  measure  to  the  fact  that 
the  textile  cities  of  the  Eastern  States  are  noted  almost  exclusively  for 


LINOLEUM    INDUSTRY- 


:rude  fabric  at  near  end  of   machine,  finished 
linoleum  at  far  end 


this  one  line  of  manufacture,  while  Philadelphia's  products  are  so  varied, 
and  its  reputation  so  wide  for  other  lines,  that  its  importance  as  a  city  of 
textile  mills  is  not  generally  realized.  More  than  one-third  of  the  wage- 
earners  of  Philadelphia  are  engaged  in  its  textile  industries,  and  almost 
30  per  cent,  of  the  value  of  its  products  is  represented  by  the  output  of 
these  mills. 

In  1904,  according  to  the  census,  there  were  7087  manufacturing 
establishments  in  Philadelphia,  employing  228,899  persons,  with  an  output 
valued  at  $591,000,000.  Of  these  factories,  1331,  with  80,310  employees 
and  an  output  valued  at  $170,000,000,  were  engaged  in  the  textile  indus- 
tries alone      Figures  given  in  the  report  of  the  factory  inspector  for  the 


213 


Pciiiisyli'aiiia  and  Its  Mauifold  Activities 

year  19a)  show  that  there  were  io2,_i59  persons  employed  in  tlie  textile 
industries  of  I'hiladelphia  in  that  year,  as  compared  with  80,310  employed 
in  1904,  according  to  the  United  States  Census.  This  is  an  increase  of  27 
per  cent.,  and  assuming  that  the  increase  in  the  \alne  of  the  products 
would  be  at  the  same  ratio,  although  probably  it  would  be  greater,  the 
value  of  the  products  of  the  textile  industries  in  I'hiladelphia  in  1909 
would  be  about  $215,000,000. 

The  values  of  the  outinit  of  the  more  strictly  speaking  textile 
industries  of  Philadelphia  are  given  in  the  follcjwing  table,  the  leading 
lines  being  included  : 

Worsted  goods $26,900,000 

Carpets  and  rugs 25,200,000 

Cotton  goods    17,400,000 

Hosiery  and  knit  goods 15,700,000 

Woolen  goods    12,200,000 

Silk    goods    5,700,000 

Dyeing  and  finishing  textiles 4,300,000 

Cordage  and  twine   4,000,000 

Oil   cloth    4,000,000 

Upholstering  materials    2,200.000 

Millinery  and  lace  goods 2,100,000 

This  table  does  not  take-  accoitnt  of  the  very  large  production  of 
yarns.  It  is  natural  that  Philadelphia  should  have  its  high  place  in  this 
brancli,  for  it  is  a  decided  advantage  to  the  textile  manufacturer  to  be 
close  to  his  yarn  supply.  The  proximity  of  many  important  mills  would 
nattirally  tend  to  build  up  the  yarn  industry  near  at  hand.  Of  the  scores 
of  grades  of  xarns  used  in  the  mills  there  is  not  one  but  can  be  supplied 
1)\-  the  home  market. 


214 


Diversity  of  Manufactures 

Tdl"^  initiati\e  nianitcsted  by  Penns\ivania  manufacturers  in 
recent  years,  which  has  brought  about  improvement  in  so  many 
lines  of  mercliandise,  was  paralleled  by  the  creative  ability  shown 
by  the  pioneers  in  the  various  lines  of  industry.  Pennsylvania  has  been 
a  creator  of  industries  which,  besides  developing  within  her  borders, 
have  spread    far  beyond   the  lines  of  the   State. 

There  is  scarcely  a  branch  of  manufacture  in  the  history  of  which 
Pennsylvania  has  not  played  an  important  part,  and  to-day,  as  in  the  past, 
the  industries  of  the  State  are  as  virile  and  progressive  as  those  of  any 
other  State  in  the  Union. 

As  an  illustration  of  this  creative  ability  may  be  cited  the  birth  and 
growth,  in  Philadelphia,  of  the  glazed-kid  industry.  Fortunes  were  sunk 
before  the  secret  of  the  chrome  tannage  of  goat  skins  was  solved.  In 
the  early  history  of  the  development  of  this  industry  the  name  of  Robert 
H.  Foerderer  has  a  prominent  place.  Within  a  few  years  after  it  had 
been  demonstrated  that  the  process  would  be ,  a  commercial  success  the 
industry  was  firmly  rooted  in  Philadelphia.  It  has  since  spread  to  nearby 
territory,  but  Philadelphia  has  continued  to  be  easily  the  glazed-kid  center 
of  the  country,  manufacturing  a  very  high  percentage  of  the  total  pro- 
duction. The  extent  of  the  industry  to-day  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that 
in  the  calendar  year  191 1  upward  of  16,000,000  goat  skins  were  imported 
through  the  port  of  Philadelphia. 

This  development  maintained  for  Pennsylvania  a  prestige  in  the 
tanning  industry,  which  it  has  held  almost  from  the  beginning  of  its 
history.  Partly  because  it  was  in  the  early  years  one  of  the  important 
cattle-raising  colonies,  and  partly  because  it  contained  the  trees  that 
yielded  tannic  acid,  attention  was  given  to  the  industry  of  tanning  hides 
at  a  very  early  period.  In  the  fore  part  of  the  nineteenth  century  Penn- 
sylvania not  only  supplied  leather  for  its  own  wants  and  shipped  into 
other  States,  but  also  sent  considerable  amounts   to   foreign   countries. 

In  the  manufacture  of  boots  and  shoes  the  State  has  never  approached 
New  England  in  volume  of  production.  Its  output,  especially  in  women's 
shoes  is,  however,  of  notably  high  character. 


Fentisyh'ania  and  Its  Manifold  .Ictivities 

The  crc:iti\  e  c()urai,''e  shown  in  the  lace  curtain  and  tapestry  industries 
has  already  been  touched  upon.  J'roduction  in  these  two  lines  began  in 
Philadel|)hia,  and  is  still  centered  there.  For  years  the  city  produced 
more  than  90  per  cent,  of  the  country's  entire  output  in  these  two  lines. 

In  the  oil,  drug,  and  chemical  trade  Philadelphia  has  always  been 
an  im])ortant  factor.  The  first  successful  attempt  to  make  white  lead 
in  this  country  was  by  Samuel  Wetherill  &  Son,  in  Philadelphia,  in  1804. 
'Idiis  tirni  is  still  in  existence,  and  carries  on  the  manufacture  of  wdiite 
lead  and  other  chemicals  in  Philadelphia.  The  manufacture  of  the 
oxides  of  lead  began  about  the  same  time.  Christopher  Shrack  began 
business  as  manufacturer  of  paints  in  Philadelphia  in  1816,  and  also 
manufactured  copal  varnish  on  a  small  scale. 

As  the  country  has  increased  in  population  and  wealth,  there  has 
been  an  advance  in  the  decorative  arts  that  has  taxed  the  resourcefulness 
of  the  manufacturer  of  paints.  Philadelphia  makers  of  colors  were 
from  the  beginning  quick  to  grasp  the  possibilities  of  this  development, 
with  the  result  that  the  city  has  maintained  its  place  in  the  industry. 
There  are,  however,  important  paint-making  establishments  in  a  dozen 
other  cities  of  the  Commonwealth. 

Doubtless  the  concentration  of  the  chemical  industry  in  the  eastern 
part  of  the  State  has  had  an  important  influence  in  the  upbuilding  of  the 
paint   industry. 

Illustrative  of  the  high  character  of  production  which  distinguishes 
Pennsylvania  output  in  so  many  lines  is  the  hat-making  industry  of  the 
John  B.  Stetson  Company.  Stetson  hats  are  sold  all  over  the  world,  and 
it  is  a  noteworthy  fact  that  the  largest  single  customer  of  the  house  is 
in  South  America.  John  B.  Stetson,  who  founded  the  business  in  1865, 
conceived  the  idea  that  a  successful  hat  business  could  be  built  up  by 
making  the  best  hat  that  could  be  made  with  given  material ;  and  the 
industry  has  since  been  conducted  on  that  basis.  At  present  there  are 
employed,  in  round  numbers,  5400  people.  This  business  is  unique,  in 
that  it  is  the  only  hat  manufacturing  plant  in  the  world  where  a  complete 
hat  is  made.  The  fur-bearing  skins  are  imported  in  their  original  con- 
dition. Even  the  bands  and  bindings  are  woven  in  the  Stetson  factory. 
At  present  this  branch  is  producing  upward  of  6,000,000  yards  annually, 
the  making  of  which  requires  40,000  pounds  of  raw  silk.  The  finished 
sheep  skins,  from  which  the  leather  sweat  bands  are  made,  are  imported 
from  France,  Belgium,  and  Russia,  and  cut  into  sweats  at  the  factory. 
For  this  purpose  330,000  sheep  and  calf  skins  are  used  in  a  single  year. 

216 


Dk'crsity  of  Manufactures 


FINISHING   HATS    IN    THE   STETSON    FACTORY 


KNITTING  INDUSTRY,  PHILADELPHIA 


Peinisylz'aiiia  and  Its  Manifold  /Icth'ities 

'I"1r'  ])a|)c'i-  l)(>.\cs  in  wiiich  the  hats  are  packed  are  also  manufactured  in 
tlie  ])lant,  and  tor  this  ])ur])Ose  820  tons  of  box  Iward  were  rcfiuired  in 

Durinsj^  the  year  of  191 1  the  Stetson  factory  manufactured  3.336,000 
hats,  an  average  daily  output  of  ii,000  hats.  The  buildings  occupied 
co\er  about  five  acres  of  ground,  providing  24  acres  of  Hoor  space. 

It  is  noteworthy  that  the  other  large  hat  manufacturing  plants  which 
have  sprung  up,  especially  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  State,  have  shown 
the  same  adherence  to  a  high  standard  of  quality.  There  is  virtually  no 
low-grade  production  in  the  State  in  this  line,  a  condition  which  again 
emphasizes  the  fact  that  the  high  labor  market  of  a  manufacturing  center 
such  as  Philadelphia  tends  steadily,  not  only  toward  specialization  in 
manufacture,  but  also  to  high  quality  in  production. 

One  of  the  many  industries  that  have  made  notable  advance  in  the 
State  in  recent  years  is  the  manufacture  of  cork.  Among  the  leaders  in 
the  development  of  this  industry  is  the  Armstrong  Cork  Company,  of 
Pittsburgh.  From  this  plant  comes  a  wide  array  of  articles  made  from 
"corkwood,"  or  the  cork  of  commerce,  which  is  the  outer  bark  of  the 
cork  oak.  Spain  and  Portugal  divide  honors  among  the  nations  of  the 
world  so  far  as  yield  of  raw  material  is  concerned,  with  perhaps  the 
advantage  leaning  slightly  to  the  latter.  In  these  two  countries  a  large 
part  of  the  production  goes  to  supply  domestic  factories,  where  more 
and  more  machinery  is  being  introduced  every  year.  With  these  excep- 
tions, however,  the  major  part  of  the  yield  is  exported  to  the  United 
States,  England,  France,  Germany,  Austria,  Russia,  Denmark,  or  Sweden, 
to  be  turned  into  finished  form.  The  Armstrong  Company  is  one  of  those 
that  have  modernized  the  industry  by  the  introduction  of  new  machinery 
and  methods.  Besides  the  ordinary  bottle  "stoppers,"  the  plant  makes,  in 
large  quantities,  insoles,  washers,  life  preservers,  pen  holders,  cork  paper 
for  cigarette  tips,  and  a  host  of  other  articles. 

In  the  manufacture  of  oil  cloth  and  linoleums,  Philadelphia  was  the 
pioneer  city  of  the  country.  The  output  of  Thomas  Potter  Sous  &  Co., 
the  George  W.  Blabon  Company,  and  nearby  concerns  still  constitute  a 
large  percentage  of  the  total  production  in  the  United  States. 

Naturally  the  refining  of  petroleum  has  been  an  important  industry 
along  the  Delaware.  All  of  the  petroleum  formerly  came  to  the  refineries 
by  pipe  line  from  the  Pennsylvania  fields,  but  in  recent  years  the  refining 
of  oil  from  other  fields,  notably  Texas,  brought  to  the  refineries  by  water, 
has  been  steadily  increasing  in  volume. 

218 


Diz'crsity  of  Maiti(facttircs 


KA    liKK   K    I'l.A.XT,    H  AKIil  SOX-WALKER    REFIMXC,    CO.,    PITTSIU'ROH 


GRINDING    CUT    GLASS 


2IQ 


Pennsylvania  and  Its  Manifold  Activities 

A  notable  development  that  may  be  regarded  as  being  the  result  of 
Pennsylvania  enterprise  is  that  of  the  Welsbach  Company.  The  control 
of  this  company  is  held  by  the  United  Gas  Improvement  Company,  and 
the  period  of  greatest  development  began  when  this  company  assumed 
control. 

The  property  covers  21  acres,  and  the  buildings  number  96,  having 
a  floor  space  of  361,000  square  feet.  The  number  of  employees  is  1504. 
A  summary  for  the  past  10  years  shows  the  output  of  incandescent  gas 
burners  and  mantles  as  advancing  yearly.  For  191 1  the  burners  were 
over  3,500,000,  and  the  mantles,  31,000,000.  The  company  also  made  a 
large  quantity  of  gas  fixtures  and  other  illuminating  devices. 

Among  the  oldest  and  yet  most  progressive  industrial  branches  in 
the  State  is  the  manufacture  of  glass.  Pennsylvania  led  in  this  indus- 
try before  the  Revolution,  and  it  leads  to-day.  Pittsburgh  alone  has  27 
glass  plants  and  24  glass-cutting,  staining,  and  ornamenting  plants,  the 
combined  capital  being  in  excess  of  $21,000,000.  In  the  development  of 
process  in  glass  manufacture  these  plants  are  to-day  taking  a  leading  part. 

Pittsburgh  may  be  regarded  as  the  cradle  of  the  glass  industry  in 
America,  for  it  has  been  the  scene  of  the  working  out  of  most  of  the 
improvements  in  process  and  in  labor-saving  machinery  which  have  revo- 
lutionized the  industry  in  the  past  two  decades.  The  first  machine-made 
bottles  to  be  made  in  this  country  were  turned  out  in  Pittsburgh,  on 
Philip  Arbogast's  machine,  in  1882,  the  rights  on  this  patent  expiring 
in  1899.  The  bottle  industry  is  still  using  substantially  the  Arbogast 
process — what  is  known  as  the  "interchangeable  type"  of  mold — with  the 
vacuum  process  added,  which  makes  the  machine  practically  automatic. 
The  first  window  glass  machine  also  was  operated  in  Pittsburgh  in  1894, 
being  promoted  by  the  interests  that  afterward  merged  the  principal 
factories  in  the  country  into  the  American  Window  Glass  Company. 

In  pressed  and  table  glassware,  the  United  States  Glass  Company's 
plants  saw  the  first  development  of  the  improvements  of  recent  years 
which  have  made  possible  immense  advances  in  the  pressed  ware  industry. 
Notable  among  these  was  the  introduction  of  the  blower,  to  cool  molds 
by  wind,  making  possible  lighter  molds  which  can  be  handled  more 
rapidly  and  are  capable  of  producing  a  finer  grade  of  work.  In  the  field 
of  lighting  glass,  improvements  in  molds  and  methods  of  manipulation 
and  the  first  plants  for  the  production  of  glass  electrical  supplies  were 
established  in  the  Pittsburgh  district,  and  it  also  led  in  the  development 
of  the  porcelain  electric  supply  industry. 


Diversity  of  Manufactures 

In  recent  years,  however,  the  achievements  of  the  Pittsburgh  (hstrict 
industry  in  plate  glass  are  perhaps  the  best  known  in  the  glass  trade. 
For  years  it  was  believed  that  American  glass  makers  could  not  produce 
French  plate.  The  late  Capt.  John  Ford,  of  Ford  City,  Pa.,  a  town  north 
of  Pittsburgh  on  the  Allegheny  River,  who  had  been  a  captain  on  a  river 
steamer,  left  the  river  and  went  into  glass  in  the  late  eighties.     He  revo 


HANDLING    MOLTEN    GLASS    IN   ORDER   TO   BLOW    A    WINDOW-GLASS    CYLINDER 


lutionized  the  plate  glass  industry  in  this  country,  in  the  matter  of 
mechanical  facilities.  He  substituted  power  for  hand  labor,  perfected 
the  furnace  system  of  melting,  and  improved  the  system  of  annealing 
glass  in  lehrs  instead  of  ovens.  His  plants  furnished  the  basis  for  the 
consolidation  now  known  as  the  Pittsburgh  Plate  Glass  Company. 

Improvements  are  now  being  perfected  in  Pittsburgh  in  the  wire 
and  ribbed  glass  industry,  that  promise  to  result  in  important  advances 
in  this  newest  branch  of  glass  manufacture.  Although  there  have  been 
frequent  removals  of  plants  from  Pittsburgh  territory  to  points  further 
west — notably  the  historic  migration  of  a  section  of  the  chimney  and 
lamp  glass  industry  from  Pittsburgh  proper  to  the  then  newly  discovered 
''gas  belt"  of  Indiana  in  the  later  nineties — the  backbone  of  the  industry 


Pciiiisvk'aiiia  ami  Its  Manifold  Activities 

seems  likely  to  remain  fixed  in  llie  1 'ittsbiiri^h  district  for  man\-  years 
to  come. 

The  ( idvenimeiU's  n^io  ceiiMis  for  the  Metropolitan  District  of 
I'ittshurj^h  gives  the  total  ])ri)(lueti()n  of  glass  of  all  kinds  for  the  census 
district  in  190*;,  as  $8,765,000.  'J"he  district  included  under  this  name 
comprises  not  quite  all  of  Allegheny  Counl\.  The  outjHU  of  the  terri- 
tory contiguous  to  Pittsburgh  and  controlled  hy  Pittsburgh  conii^anies 
is.  however,  several  times  this  total,  the  industry  having  largely  moved 
to  surrounding  towns,  20  to  50  miles  distant  from  the  city  proper.  The 
city  is  the  headquarters  of  the  American  Window  Glass  Company,  con- 
trolling the  window  glass  trade :  the  Pittsburgh  Plate  Glass  Company, 
which  has  almost  a  monopoly  oi  the  i)late  glass  business  in  this  country ; 
the  Macbeth  and  other  large  producers  of  chimney  and  lamp  glass ;  several 
concerns  producing  glass  electric  goods,  and  the  United  States  Glass 
Company,  the  largest  ]:)roducer  of  pressed  glass  and  tableware  lines  in 
the  country. 

The  2 J  plants  in  Pittsburgh  territory  devoted  to  bottle  glassware — 
which  is  a  branch  of  the  trade  that  has  not  been  very  greatly  affected 
by  the  merger  movement  in  America,  and  is  still  largely  in  the  hands  of 
individual  companies — produced  in  19 10.  according  to  trade  reports  based 
on  tank  ca])acity.  $10,265,000  worth  of  Ijottles.  The  i)late  glass  output 
of  the  district  was  estimated  at  $8,000,000;  the  tableware  outjuU  at 
$6,000,000.  The  city  is  an  important  center  for  the  manufacture  of  cut, 
etched,  stained,  and  decorative  art  glass,  as  well.  The  district  also  is 
becoming  an  important  producer  of  wire  glass  and  ribbed  glass,  a  com- 
parativelv  new  product,  which  is  increasing  in  favor  as  a  lire  retardent. 


THE  CITIES 

OF  THE 

COMMONWEALTH 


W.    O.    HEMPSTEAD 

Vice-Chairman  Transportat' 
Committee 


E.   W.    DRINKER 

Vice-chairman  Publications 

Committee 


HORACE  A.    DOAN 
Vice-Cliairman  Reception 


WM.    H.   HOLLAR 
Vice-chairman  Committee  on 


Place  of  Meeting 


Two  Centers  of  Industry 

SITUATED  at  the  east  and  west  extremities  of  the  State  are  two 
industrial  centers  which,  in  their  lines  of  production,  are  unques- 
tionably the  leaders  among  American  cities.  Back  in  1842,  Charles 
Dickens  wrote:  "I^ittsburgh  is  like  Birmingham  in  England;  at  least,  its 
townspeople  say  so."  Wonderful  as  was  Dickens'  genius  in  the  depiction 
of  human  nature,  this,  with  its  implied  doubt  as  to  the  future  of  Pitts- 
burgh, would  indicate  that  he  was  no  prophet  of  industrial  advance. 
For  to-day  it  would  be  a  high  compliment  to  Birmingham  to  speak  of  it 
as  the  Pittsburgh  of  England. 

The  Pittsburgh  district  to-day  develops  far  greater  tonnage  than 
any  like  area  in  the  world.  It  is  one  of  the  great  pulsating  industrial 
centers — in  some  respects  the  greatest. 

Even  more  notable  as  an  industrial  center,  considering  the  number 
of  establishments,  value  of  production,  and  high  quality  of  output,  is 
Philadelphia,  from  which  sprang  the  industry  of  the  State.  In  variety 
of  production  as  well  as  in  its  high  average  of  quality,  Philadelphia, 
to-day,  leads  American  cities.  With  a  high  labor  market  that  has 
slowly  tended  to  drive  cheaper  quality  of  production  to  centers  where 
cheaper  labor  could  be  procured,  Philadelphia  manufacture  has  tended 
steadily  toward  the  highest  grades  of  specialties  in  all  lines  of  merchan- 
dise. It  was  only  so  that  the  high  labor  market  could  be  supported ;  and 
the  result  is,  to-day,  a  reputation  for  quality  in  its  many  lines  of  mer- 
chandise. 

That  Philadelphia's  advance  as  an  industrial  city  is  unchecked  is 
shown  by  the  latest  census  figures.  The  advance  for  1909  as  compared 
with  1904  is  as  follows:  33  per  cent,  in  the  capital  invested;  47  per  cent, 
in  the  number  of  salaried  officials  and  clerks;  29  per  cent,  in  the  cost  of 
materials  used ;  27  per  cent,  in  the  value  of  products ;  23  per  cent,  in 
the  value  added  by  manufacture;  25  per  cent,  in  the  salaries  and  wages; 
24  per  cent,  in  the  miscellaneous  expenses;  10  per  cent,  in  the  average 
number  of  wage  earners,  and  18  per  cent,  in  the  number  of  establishments. 

There  were  8381  manufacturing  establishments  in  1909  and  7087  in 
1904,  an  increase  of  1294,  or  18  per  cent. 

225 


Poinsylvania  and  Its  Manifold  .Ictiz'ities 

'J'lie  capital  invested  as  reported  in  k/^j  was  $692,115,000  and 
$520,179,000  in  1904,  an  increase  of  $171,936,000,  or  33  per  cent.  The 
average  capital  per  establishment  was  a]:)proximately  $83,000  in  1909  and 
$73,000  in  1904. 

The  cost  of  materials  used  was  $430,799,000  in  1909,  as  against 
$333,352,000  in   1904,  an  increase  of  $97,447,000.  or  29  per  cent.     The 

NUMBER  OF  INHABITANTS  PER  SQUARE  MILE 


DENSITY    OF    POPULATION,    PENNSYLVANI.A. 

average  cost  of  materials  per  establishment  was  approximately  $51,000 
in  1909  and  $47,000  in  1904. 

The  value  of  products  was  $749,183,000  in  1909  and  $591,388,000  in 
1904,  an  increase  of  $157,795,000,  or  2"/  per  cent.  The  average  per  estab- 
lishment was  approximately  $89,000  in  1909  and  $83,000  in  1904. 

The  value  added  by  manufacture  w'as  $318,384,000  in  1909  and 
$258,036,000  in  1904,  an  increase  of  $60,348,000,  or  23  per  cent.  This 
item  formed  42  per  cent,  of  the  total  value  of  products  in  1909  and  44 
per  cent,  in  1904. 

The  miscellaneous  expenses  amounted  to  $68,897,000  in  1909  and 
$55,449,000  in  1904,  an  increase  of  $13,448,000,  or  24  per  cent.  The 
average  per  establishment  was  approximately  $8,000  in  1909  and  in  1904. 

The  salaries  and  wages  amounted  to  $166,129,000  in  1909  and 
$133,037,000  in  1904,  an  increase  of  $33,092,000,  or  25  per  cent. 

The  number  of  salaried  ofificials  and  clerks  was  33,473  in  1909  and 
22,839  i"  I904'  S'l  increase  of  10,634,  or  47  per  cent. 


226 


Two  Centers  of  hidustry 

The  average  luiniber  of  wage  earners  employed  during  the  year  was 
252,221  in  1909  and  228,899  i"  1904.  ^^  increase  of  23,322,  or  10  per  cent. 
The  comparative  summary  for  the  city,  1904  to  1909,  follows : 

Per  Cent. 

Census  Increase 

1909  1904  1904-1909 

Number    of    establishments    8,381  7,087  18 

Capital    invested     $692,115,000  $520,179,000  33 

Cost    of    materials    used     $430,799,000  $333,352,ooo  29 

Salaries    and    wages     $166,129,000  $133,037,000  25 

Miscellaneous    expenses     $68,897,000  $55,449,000  24 

Value    of    products     $749,183,000  $591,388,000  27 

Value  added   by   manufacture    (products 

less    cost    of    materials)     $318,384,000  $258,036,000  23 

Employees  : 

Number     of     salaried     officials     and 

clerks    33-47.3  22,839  47 

Average     number     of     wage-earners 

employed  during  the  year    252,221  228,899  10 

Pittsburgh  also  showed  a  notable  advance  as  follows :  Six  per  cent, 
in  the  number  of  establishments ;  9  per  cent,  in  the  capital  invested ; 
15  per  cent,  in  the  value  of  products;  19  per  cent,  in  the  cost  of  materials 
used;  10  per  cent,  in  the  value  added  by  manufacture;  28  per  cent,  in  the 
number  of  salaried  officials  and  clerks ;  and  6  per  cent,  in  the  salaries  and 
wages. 

There  was  a  decrease  of  6  per  cent,  in  the  average  number  of  wage 
earners.  There  were  1659  manufacturing  establishments  in  1909  and 
1562  in  1904,  an  increase  of  97,  or  6  per  cent. 

The  capital  invested  as  reported  in  1909  was  $283,139,000  and 
$260,765,000  in  1904,  an  increase  of  $22,374,000,  or  9  per  cent.  The 
average  capital  per  establishment  was  approximately  $171,000  in  1909 
and  $167,000  in   1904. 

The  value  of  products  was  $243,454,000  in  1909  and  $211,259,000 
in  1904,  an  increase  of  $32,195,000,  or  15  per  cent.  The  average  per 
establishment  was  approximately  $147,000  in  1909  and  $135,000  in   1904. 

The  cost  of  materials  used  was  $148,527,000  in  1909,  as  against 
$124,581,000  in  1904,  an  increase  of  $23,946,000,  or   19  per  cent. 

The  value  added  by  manufacture  was  $94,927,000  in  1909  and 
$86,678,000  in  1904,  an  increase  of  $8,249,000,  or  10  per  cent.  This 
item  formed  39  per  cent,  of  the  total  value  of  products  in  1909  and 
41  per  cent,  in  1904. 

The  miscellaneous  expenses  amounted  to  $19,552,000  in  1909  and 
$19,087,000  in  1904,  an  increase  of  $465,000,  or  2  per  cent.  The  average 
per  establishment  was   approximately  $12,000   both    in    1909   and    1904. 

227 


rcinisylz'uiiia  and  Its  Manifold  Activities 

The  salaries  and  wages  amounted  to  $52,656,000  in  1909  and 
$49,558,000  in  1904,  an  increase  of  $3,098,000,  or  6  per  cent. 

The  number  of  salaried  officials  and  clerks  was  10,598  in  1909  and 
8273  in  1904,  an  increase  of  2325,  or  28  per  cent. 

The  average  number  of  wage  earners  employed  during  the  year 
was  67,474  in  1909  and  71,618  in  1904,  a  decrease  of  4144,  or  6  per  cent. 

The  comparative  summary  for  the  city,  1904  and  1909,  follows: 

Per  Cent. 

Census  Increase 

1909  1904  1904-1909 

Number    of    establishments    1,659  1.562  6 

Capital     $283,139,000  $260,765,000  9 

Cost    of    materials    used    $148,527,000  $124,581,000  19 

Salaries    and    wages     $52,656,000  $49,558,000  6 

Miscellaneous    expenses     $19,552,000  $19,087,000  2 

Value    of   products    $243,454,000  $211,259,000  15 

Value   added  by  manufacture    (products 

less   cost   of   materials)    $94,927,000  $86,678,000  10 

Employees  : 

Number     of     salaried     officials     and 

clerks    10,598  8,273  28 

Average     number     of     wage-earners 

employed    during   the    year    ....              67,474  71,618  6 

Philadelphia  leads  the  country  particularly  in  the  extent  and  character 
of  its  textile  industries.  Pittsburgh's  industrial  importance  is  due  pri- 
marily to  the  coal  lands  by  which  it  is  surrounded,  which  to-day  attract 
the  ore  of  the  Lake  Superior  ranges  to  its  furnaces,  and  which  has 
thus  built  up  its  vast  iron  and  steel  plants. 

It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  the  Pittsburgh  district  develops  a  far 
greater  tonnage  than  any  district  of  equal  size  in  the  world.  Figures 
recently  prepared  by  the  Pittsburgh  Industrial  Development  Commission 
give  the  following  comparative  statistics : 

Year  1909  Tons 

Port    of    Liverpool    14,341,088 

Port    of    Marseilles    15,172,000 

Port   of    London    19,665,134 

Port    of    Hamburg 22,955,533 

Port  of  New  York   25,584,721 

Suez    Canal    23,633,283 

Tonnage   of    Great    Lakes    (more    than    half    of   which    is    con- 
tributed   by    Pittsburgh)     159,727,372 

Pittsburgh's    tonnage    167,733,678 

The  tonnage  of  New  York,  London,  Hamburg,  and  Marseilles,  the 
greatest  maritime  ports  of  the  world's  four  great  maritime  nations,  com- 

228 


Tzi'O  Centers  of  Industry 

billed,  was  83,376,388  tons.     Pittsburgh's  tonnage,    167,733,268  tons,   is 
double  this  total. 

Figures  prepared  for  "Pittsburgh  Against  the  World"  in  i)ig  iron 
production   for   1909,  show  as   follows : 

Tons 

Pittsburgh  district    7,134,502 

France   and   Russia   combined    6,448,670 

State  of   Ohio  entire    .^ 5o5i,545 

Austria-Hungary,    Belgium.    Canada,     Sweden,    and    Spain    com- 
bined      5.186,351 

States  of  Illinois,  Indiana,  and  Michigan  combined  (including  Chi- 
cago and  Gary)    3,431,445 

State   of  Alabama 1,763,617 

Pittsburgh's  production  of  pig  iron  in  1909  was  60  per  cent,  of 
the  total  for  Germany,  and  70  per  cent,  of  the  total  for  Great  Britain. 
Pittsburgh  district  produced  in  1909  as  much  pig  iron  as  the  combined 
countries  of  France,  Russia,  and  Canada.  Pittsburgh  district  in  1909 
produced  11  per  cent,  of  the  world's  output  of  pig  iron. 

In  1910  Allegheny  County  made  over  19.5  per  cent,  of  the  country's 
total  production  of  pig  iron.  It  made  over  54.1  per  cent,  of  the  total 
production  of  steel  ingots  and  castings  in  Pennsylvania  and  over  27.3 
per  cent,  of  the  country's  total  production.  It  made  over  55.3  per  cent, 
of  the  production  of  structural  shapes  in  Pennsylvania  and  over  41.9  per 
cent,  of  the  country's  total  production.  It  made  over  47.7  per  cent,  of 
the  production  of  plates  and  sheets  in  Pennsylvania  and  over  2"/  per  cent, 
of  the  country's  total  production.  It  made  52.6  per  cent,  of  all  kinds  of 
finished  rolled  iron  and  steel  in  Pennsylvania  and  over  26.2  per  cent. 
of  the  country's  total  production. 

In  19 10  the  Pittsburgh  district  produced  one-third  of  the  glass  output 
of  the  country  and  one-tenth  of  all  the  heavy  power  machinery  and  heavy 
engines.  These  figures,  of  course,  include  manufacture  and  tonnage 
outside  of  the  city  proper ;  but  they  are  in  what  is  held  to  be  the  zone 
of  Pittsburgh  activity.  By  the  Pittsburgh  district  is  meant  the  territory 
within  a  radius  of  40  miles,  having  Pittsburgh  as  its  center.  The  district 
claims  the  largest  plants  in  the  following  lines :  Pipe  and  tube,  structural 
steel,  wire,  brakes,  aluminum  and  finishing,  pickling  and  preserving,  and 
electrical  manufacturing. 

Pittsburgh  is  the  heaviest  producer  of  structural  and  bridge  material 
in  this  country.  The  three  largest  interests  in  this  field  have  their  head- 
quarters and  their  principal  plants  in  this  district — the  American  Bridge 
Company,   which   is   the   United   States    Steel   Corporation's    fabricating 

229 


Pennsylvania  a)id  Its  Manifold  Actiz'itics 

subsidiary,  the  McClintic-]\Iarshall  Construction  Company,  and  the 
Riter-Conley  Manufacturing  Compau}-. 

The  McClintic-Marshall  Company  has  been  tlie  contractor  for  the 
fabricating  and  erection  of  the  lock  gates  at  the  Panama  Canal,  the  con- 
tract involving  60,000  to  80,000  tons  of  steel,  on  which  the  contract  price 
was  $5,000,000.  A  part  of  these  lock  leaves,  as  they  are  technically 
termed,  had  to  l)e  erected  complete  at  the  Rankin  shops  of  the  company 
and  passed  on  l)y  the  government  inspectors  before  they  were  accepted 
for. shipment  to  Panama.  The  contract  necessitated  the  building  of  the 
company's  own  erecting  shops  at  Colon. 

The  same  business  acumen  that  was  so  great  a  factor  in  the  rapid 
advance  of  Pittsburgh  is  to-day  being  exercised  to  protect  its  industrial 
position.  Early  leaders  in  the  city's  industry  grasped  firmly  the  principle 
that  production  at  the  base  of  raw  supply  saves  transportation  costs  and 
means  economy  in  manufacture.  It  was  the  courageous  backing  of 
this  conviction  that  made   Pittsburgh  the  industrial  marvel  of  the  age. 

But  Pittsburgh  business  men  of  to-day  realize  that  new  fields  of 
supply  which  have  been  opened  have  created  conditions  that  did  not 
exist  when  the  city's  era  of  prosperity  began.  Firmly  as  they  believe 
in  the  future  of  Pittsburgh  along  its  present  lines  of  production,  they 
are  taking  steps  to  fortify  its  position  still  further.  The  Pittsburgh 
Industrial  Commission  was  organized,  largely,  to  aid  in  the  diversifica- 
tion of  the  city's  manufacture  by  attracting  new  lines  of  trade.  Leaders 
in  the  manufacturing  life  of  Pittsburgh  have  seen  the  importance  of 
establishing  manufactures  that  will  give  employment  to  women,  so  that 
the  daughters  of  workmen  in  the  iron  and  steel  mills  may  find  employ- 
ment  at   hand. 

The  same  broad-minded  policy  has  led  to  the  creation  of  a  com- 
mission to  study  the  means  of  regulating  the  floods  which,  from  time 
to  time,  endanger  the  interests  along  the  three  rivers.  That  this  danger 
is  important  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  from  March  15,  1907,  to  March 
20,  1908,  Pittsburgh  sufl^ered  a  direct  loss,  as  a  result  of  three  floods, 
of  $6,500,000.  The  National  Waterways  Commission  estimates  the 
flood  losses  in  the  Ohio  \^alley  in  1907  at  more  than  $100,000,000.  To 
prevent  this,  a  system  of  artificial  reservoirs  has  been  proposed,  and  43 
reservoir  sites,  on  the  rivers  above  Pittsburgh,  have  been  surveyed. 
It  is  calculated  that,  besides  controlling  floods,  these  reservoirs  will  be 
of  important  value  in  increasing  the  low-water  flow  of  the  Ohio  as  well 
as  in  the  develo])ment  of  power. 

230 


Pennsylvania  Cities 

SCRAXT(_)X,  in  Lackawanna  County,  in  point  of  population  ranks 
third  among  Pennsylvania  cities,  with  129,867  people.  The  popu- 
lation within  a  lo-mile  radius  is  314,538.  In  1890  the  population 
of  the  city  was  75.215.  Scranton  has  shown  a  consistent  advance  of  a 
little  more  than  25,000  in  each  recent  decade.  The  city  has  an  elevation 
above  tide  level  ranging  from  800  to  1800  feet.  While  the  general  manu- 
facturing interests  of  the  city  are  important,  Scranton  is  distinctively 
an  anthracite  coal  center,  one-quarter  of  all  the  anthracite  in  the  world 
being  mined  within  a  radius  of  15  miles  from  the  city.  There  are 
20,000,000  tons  taken  out  of  the  ground  annually  in  this  territory,  and 
its  value  at  the  mines  averages  $46,000,000.  Within  the  city  limits  the 
industry  gives  employment  to  15,000  hands. 

Aside  from  the  mining  of  coal,  an  almost  ec[ual  number  of  workers 
find  employment  in  other  occupations.  There  are  numerous  plants 
engaged  in  the  production  of  a  varied  line  of  heavy  metahvare,  such  as 
stoves  and  furnaces,  grates  and  blowers,  scales  and  screens,  mining 
machinery,  axles  and  springs,  bolts  and  nuts,  pumps,  brass  goods,  alumi- 
num wares,  etc. 

The  textile  lines  are  also  largely  represented  in  this  city.  One-third 
of  all  of  the  raw  silk  imported  into  the  United  States  is  handled  within 
sixteen  miles  of  Scranton.  Some  of  the  largest  mills  in  the  world  are 
located  here,  and  as  a  city  it  ranks  second  in  this  industry  in  the  nation. 
There  are  also  extensive  woolen  and  cotton  mills,  and  one  of  the  largest 
lace  curtain  mills  in  the  United  States.  The  largest  composition  button 
factory  in  the  world  is  located  here,  where  in  addition  to  turning  out 
3,000,000  buttons  per  day,  an  infinite  variety  of  composition  specialties 
are  made.  These  include  such  articles  as  telephone  receivers  and  trans- 
mitters, magneto  boxes,  switches,  and  all  kinds  of  electrical  devices  made 
of  insulated  composition  material. 

The  number  of  industrial  plants  is  293,  and  the  annual  value  of 
production  is  $26,385,000.  There  are  19  banks  and  three  trust  companies 
in  the  city,  with  capital  and  surplus  of  $11,279,436,  and  total  deposits  of 
$34,079,662,  and  clearing  in  1910  of  $138,000,000. 

231 


Pciinsyh'aiiia  and  Its  Manifold  Activities 

Rcadi)ig,  in  Berks  County,  has  a  population  of  96,071,  an  increase 
of  al)()ut  17,000  in  the  last  (leca<lc.  Reading  is  distant  from  Philadel- 
phia 58  miles,  one  and  a  half  hours'  ride  by  railroad  southeast;  New 
York  is  128  miles  distant,  or  four  hours'  ride  northeast;  Harrisburg, 
the  capital  of  the  State,  lies  54  miles  west. 

In  1748.  when  the  town  was  laid  out  by  two  sons  of  William  Penn, 
it  was  already  tleemed  a  most  advantageous  location.  In  1752,  when  it 
became  the  shiretown  of  the  newly  formed  county  of  Berks,  the  popula- 
tion was  378.  The  early  settlers  were  largely  Germans,  Swedes,  English, 
and  Welsh.  The  Germans  gradually  increased  until  they  predominated, 
which  condition  has  continued  to  the  present  time.  Reading  was  incor- 
porated as  a  borough  in  1783.  At  that  time  the  area  was  2194  acres,  and 
the  population  fully  2000,  largely  composed  of  Germans.  In  1847  it  had 
increased  to  about  12,000  inhabitants,  and  was  in  that  year  incorporated 
into  a  city.  Extensions  of  the  city  boundaries  were  made  in  1867  and 
1869.    The  present  area  is  3965  acres,  a  little  more  than  6.19  square  miles. 

The  census  of  1850  shows  the  population  to  have  been  15,743;  1870, 
33,930;  1880,  43,278;  1890,  58,661,  and  1900,  78,961. 

In  the  matter  of  steam  railroad  transportation,  shippers  have  the 
advantages  of  two  great  systems,  the  Pennsylvania  and  the  Philadelphia 
and  Reading.     The  diversity  of  industry  is  very  wide. 

One  of  the  important  industrial  interests  consists  of  the  Reading 
Railway  shops.  Another  large  plant  is  that  of  the  Reading  Iron  Company. 
There  are  several  blast  furnaces  in  the  city ;  also  stove,  hardware,  bicycle, 
automobile,  dye,  textile,  candy,  and  paint  works.  The  cigar  and  tobacco 
industry  is  strongly  developed  here,  there  being  15  leaf  tobacco  warehouses 
and  10  tobacco  manufacturing  establishments.  The  cigar  business  is 
unusually  large.  No  less  than  30  factories  are  in  operation.  These 
require  nearly  $400,000  worth  of  revenue  stamps  yearly.  The  city  of 
Reading  has  to-day  about  500  manufacturing  establishments,  employing 
25,000  people  and  producing  goods  of  the  estimated  value  of  $30,000,000 
annually. 

Wilkes-Barre  is  the  county  seat  of  Luzerne  County.  Its  population 
is  67,105,  and  its  mean  elevation  above  the  sea  level  is  552  feet.  The 
city  has  a  total  number  of  industrial  plants  of  180,  employing  8000 
workers,  and  turning  out  products  annually  valued  at  $15,000,000.  The 
mineral  wealth  in  the  territory  around  Wilkes-Barre  is  very  large,  the 
retail  value  of  its  annual  anthracite  coal  output  being  greater  than  that 
of  the  total  gold  production  of  the  United   States.     About  60,000  men 

232 


Pcnnsyli'aiiia  Cities 

and  boys  are  employed  in  the  anthracite  mines  of  the  county,  and  there 
are  about  20,000  employees  in  the  various  manufacturing  plants.  The 
county  ranks  next  to  Philadelphia  and  Allegheny  among  the  67 
counties  of  the  State  in  wealth  and  population,  and,  in  addition  to  its 
mining  and  manufacturing  resources,  is  the  third  county  of  the  State  in 
agriculture. 


CAPPING  OFF   WINDOW-GLASS   CYLINDERS    PREPARATORY   TO   FLATTENING 

Because  of  the  mining  and  manufacturing  importance  of  the  district, 
railroads  early  entered  the  Wyoming  Valley,  in  which  Wilkes-Barre  is 
located,  and  the  city  is  now  served  by  no  less  than  eight  railroads,  in 
addition  to  two  interurban  lines  and  an  excellent  trolley  system. 

There  are  13  city  banks,  with  combined  capital  of  $2,950,000,  surplus 
of  $6,094,470,  and  deposits  of  $22,637,505.  These,  with  24  suburban 
banks,  have  combined  capital  of  $5,225,000,  surplus  and  profits  of 
$9,568,752,  and  deposits  of  $45,544,939-  Clearings  in  191 1,  city  banks 
exclusively,  amounted  to  $72,354,550. 

Erie,  in  Erie  County,  which  is  the  next  city  in  point  of  size,  has  a 
population  of  66,525.  It  has  shown  a  consistent  advance  in  population  of 
12,000  in  the  decade  between   1890  and   1900,  and  14,000  in  the  decade 


233 


Pciuisyk'aiiia  and  Its  Manifold  .ictiiities 

between  1900  and  1910.  Jt  is  the  only  city  in  Pennsylvania  on  Lake  Erie, 
and  has  an  excellent  natural  harbor.  The  improvement  of  its  harbor  by 
the  United  States  Government,  however,  has  not  been  commensurate  with 
the  improvement  of  other  lake  ports.  The  city  has  about  391  industrial 
plants,  employing  upward  of  10,000  workers,  and  the  annual  value  of 
production  is  $31,734,812.  Iron  industries  form  the  greatest  part  of  this 
total.  Prohably  more  boilers  are  made  in  Erie  than  in  any  other  city  in 
the  United  States.  The  General  Electric  Company  of  Schenectady  is 
establishing  a  large  branch  plant  in  the  city. 

Harrisburg,  in  Dauphin  County,  the  capital  of  the  State,  has  a  popula- 
tion of  64,186.  Between  the  years  1900  and  19 10  it  advanced  about 
14,000.  Owing  to  its  position  on  the  Susquehanna  and  on  the  main  line 
of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  between  Philadelphia  and  Pittsburgh,  and 
because  of  generally  good  railroad  facilities,  the  city  has  an  excellent 
industrial  position.  The  Harrisburg  Pipe  and  Pipe  Bending  Works  is 
the  largest  plant  in  its  lines  of  production  in  the  world.  The  city  has 
200  industrial  plants,  employing  13,000  workers.  The  annual  value  of 
production  is  $22,725,000.  Among  the  leading  industries  are  iron  and 
steel,  tin  plate,  boilers,  turbine  wheels,  book-binding  machinery,  wheel- 
barrows, silk,  and  shoes.  The  large  plant  of  the  Pennsylvania  Steel  Com- 
pany is  at  Steelton,  near  the  city. 

In  the  State  Capitol  the  city  has  one  of  the  architectural  ornaments 
of  the  State.  The  mural  decorations  by  the  late  Edwin  A.  Abbey  and 
Violet  Oakley,  the  stained  glass  windows  by  George  van  Ingen,  and  the 
groups  of  statuary  by  George  Gray  Barnard,  are  among  the  beauties 
that  make  this  one  of  the  world's  notable  public  buildings. 

Another  remarkable  feature  of  the  building  is  the  Mercer  hand- 
made tiling.  These  tiles,  which  represent  the  various  products  and 
interests  of  the  State,  were  made  after  the  old  German  process,  improved 
by  one  generation  after  another  of  early  Pennsylvanians. 

Johnstown,  in  Cambria  County,  has  a  population  of  55,482,  having 
advanced  20,000  in  the  last  decade.  It  became  known  the  world  over  by 
the  great  inundation  of  the  last  day  of  May,  1889,  known  as  the  Johnstown 
disaster.  The  history  of  the  destruction  and  rebuilding  of  this  city,  the 
metropolis  of  the  Conemaugh  Valley,  is  one  of  the  notable  chapters  in 
American  history.  Fourteen  miles  from  Johnstown  was  a  storage  reser- 
voir, on  the  south  fork  of  the  Conemaugh,  built  originally  to  increase 
the  supply  of  water  for  the  Pennsylvania  Canal  in  the  dry  season.  In 
183S  the  dam  was  90  feet  high  and  the  lake  covered  an  area  of  600  acres. 

234 


I'ciiiisyl'c'aiiia  Cities 

The  embankment  stretched  across  a  deep  gorge  300  feet  above  the  city. 
For  a  week  prior  to  the  disaster  of  May,  1889,  there  had  been  a  heavy 
rainfall,  with  a  consequent  flood  in  the  Conemaugh.  On  the  29th  the 
dam  was  rent  and  shortly  afterward  part  of  the  masonry  toppled.  The 
flood  caused  the  loss  of  3000  lives  and  a  property  loss  of  $15,000,000. 
The   efl'ects   of   this   disaster   were   wiped    out   with    remarkable   energy. 


CYLINDERS    OF    WINDOW-GLASS     STORED    READY    FOR    FLATTENING 


The  principal  industry  of  Johnstown  is  the  Cambria  Steel  Company. 
There  are  in  all  97  industrial  establishments,  employing  upward  of  10,000 
hands  and  turning  out,  annually,  products  valued  at  nearly  $50,000,000. 
These  had  an  aggregate  capital  invested  amounting  to  $59,600,000,  and 
annual  products  of  $28,890,000. 

Altoona,  in  Blair  County,  has  a  population  of  52,127,  having  increased 
24,000  in  the  last  decade.  It  is  on  the  main  line  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Railroad,  near  the  headwaters  of  the  Juniata  River.  The  lowest  ground 
in  the  city  is  11 20  feet  above  the  sea  level. 

The  city  of  Altoona  is  a  creation  of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad 
Company,  and  it  has  remained  essentially  a  railroad  town.  The  yard, 
shop  sites,  and  residence  lots  were  laid  out  in  1849.  The  erection  of  the 
shops  was  begun  in  1850.  While  none  of  the  original  buildings  remain, 
the  shops  have  been  continually  added  to,  until  they  now  comprise,  taken 


235 


Pennsylvania  and  Its  Manifold  Activities 

together,  the  largest  railroad  shops  in  America.  The  annual  capacity 
of  the  present  shops  is  300  new  and  2100  repaired  locomotives,  50  new 
steel  and  300  new  wooden  passenger  equipment  cars,  and  366  new  freight 
equipment  cars. 

Aside  from  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Company's  interests,  the 
only  considerable  manufacture  is  silk.  However,  there  are  varied  small 
industries,  including  brick  manufactories,  book  binderies,  cigar  manu- 
factories, lumljer  manufactories,  and  mattress  factories.  There  are  274 
establishments,  employing  8500  hands,  and  the  annual  value  of  production 
is  $17,000,000. 

.lUcntown,  in  Lehigh  County,  has  51,913  population.  Since  1890  it 
has  more  than  doubled  in  size.  It  is  the  shire  town  of  Lehigh  County 
and  the  metropolis  of  the  Lehigh  Valley.  The  city  is  90  miles  west  of 
New  York  City,  57  miles  north  of  Philadelphia,  and  30  miles  south  of  the 
anthracite  coal  fields  of  Pennsylvania.  It  has  an  elevation  of  about  417 
feet  above  sea  level.  The  climate  is  moderated  by  the  influence  of  the 
South  Mountain,  which  lies  close  to  its  southern  border.  A  report  made 
in  1909  credits  the  city  with  16  silk  mills;  10  miscellaneous  textiles,  em- 
ploying 1503  hands;  four  iron  industries,  employing  1438;  three  cigar 
factories,  employing  11 80;  13  lumber  manufactories,  employing  906,  and 
9  leather  industries,  employing  827. 

Allentown  is  the  second  largest  silk  manufacturing  center  in  Penn- 
sylvania, being  exceeded  only  by  Scranton,  a  city  of  much  larger  size. 
About  5000  hands  are  employed  in  the  silk  mills,  whose  annual  product 
is  valued  at  $10,000,000.  The  city  contains  274  industrial  establishments, 
employing  12,000  people  and  turning  out  products  valued  at  $26,000,000 
annually. 

Lancaster,  in  Lancaster  County,  has  a  population  of  47,227.  It  is 
located  in  the  center  of  a  rich  agricultural  district,  which  has  been 
termed  the  garden  spot  of  the  East.  The  farm  property  in  this  district 
exceeds  $90,000,000.  The  tobacco  crop  alone  exceeds  $3,500,000  annually, 
while  the  acreage  in  potatoes  exceeds  that  of  tobacco.  The  city  has  an 
elevation  of  418  feet.  The  total  number  of  industrial  plants  is  341,  the 
ninnber  of  workers  8000,  the  annual  value  of  production  $16,000,000.  The 
output  of  umbrellas,  linoleums,  toys,  and  watches  is  large. 

York,  in  York  County,  has  a  population  of  44,750,  having  made  a 
notable  advance  in  the  last  decade.  In  diversity  of  manufacture,  it  is  the 
third  city  in  the  State.  There  are  about  218  industrial  plants,  employing 
12,000  people  and  having  an  annual  production  valued  at  $18,500,000. 

236 


Pennsylvania  Cities 

York  is  one  of  the  oldest  and  historically  one  of  the  most  interesting 
cities  in  the  State.  The  first  National  Thanksgiving  proclamation  was 
issued  at  York.  The  Articles  of  Confederation  were  here  passed  by  the 
Continental  Congress.  The  first  printing  press  west  of  the  Susquehanna 
River  was  erected  at  York,  and  the  first  canal  west  of  the  Hudson  River 
was  opened  near  the  city. 

McKeesport,  Allegheny  County,  has  a  population  of  42,694.  Situ- 
ated on  the  Monongahela  River,  in  the  Pittsburgh  industrial  belt,  its  67 
plants  turn  out  products  annually  valued  at  $42,495,000.  The  leading 
lines  of  output  are  iron  and  steel  and  their  products,  such  as  pipe,  tubes, 
tin  and  terne  plate,  planished  iron,  foundry  products,  tool  steel,  and  steel 
for  projectiles.  Among  the  leading  industries  are  the  National  Tube 
Works,  an  underlying  company  of  the  United  States  Steel  Corporation, 
which  comprises  among  its  plants  the  Monongahela  Blast  Furnaces,  the 
Monongahela  Steel  Works,  the  National  Skelp  Mills,  the  National  Tube 
and  Pipe  Mills,  the  National  Galvanizing  Works,  and  the  McKeesport 
Connecting  Railroad.  There  are  also  here  the  United  States  Tin  Plate 
Works,  the  McKeesport  Tin  Plate  W'orks,  the  Firth-Stirling  Steel 
Works,  W.  Dewees  Wood  Sheet  IMills,  and  Fort  Pitt  Steel  Foundry. 

Chester,  in  Delaware  County,  population  38,537,  is,  next  to  Phila- 
delphia, the  principal  port  in  the  State  having  access  to  the  Atlantic 
Ocean.  Owing  to  its  advantageous  position  and  with  access  to  the  deep 
channel  to  the  sea,  it  has  attracted  many  important  industries.  Its  oil- 
refining  industry  is  extensive,  and  it  has  large  iron  and  steel  and  textile 
plants.  Among  the  plants  are  those  of  the  American  Steel  Foundries. 
At  Eddystone,  between  Chester  and  Philadelphia,  are  the  extensive  new 
branch  works  of  the  Baldwin  Locomotive  Company,  and  the  Eddystone 
Print  Works.  The  city  proper  has  128  plants,  which  employ  10,000 
people  and  pay  wages  amounting  to  $4,000,000  annually.  The  annual 
value  of  production  is  $19,000,000. 

Nezv  Castle,  in  Lawrence  County,  has  36,280  people.  It  has  much 
more  than  tripled  its  population  in  20  years.  Located  near  the  center  of 
the  rich  western  tier  of  Pennsylvania's  counties  and  adjoining  the  eastern 
line  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Ohio,  Lawrence  County  occupies  an  impor- 
tant and  commanding  position,  geographically  and  commercially.  Being 
at  the  head  of  the  Beaver  Valley,  it  is  well  drained  by  that  stream  and 
its  numerous  branches,  the  most  important  of  which  are  the  Shenango 
and  Mahoning  Rivers  and  Neshannock,  Conoquenessing,  and  Slippery 
Rock  Creeks. 


237 


PcinisyhcVnia  and  Its  Manifold  .Icth-itics 

Within  the  county's  ratlier  small  area  of  376  square  miles  are  enor- 
mously productive  natural  resources — extensive  deposits  of  fire  clay, 
limestone  and  bluestone,  and  beds  of  bituminous  coal  and  iron  ore.  In 
addition,  the  soil  is  fertile  and  furnishes  the  rapidly  increasing  population 
with  an  abundance  of  farm  products.  Industrially,  this  city,  situated  in  a 
district  that  develops  tremendous  tonnage,  is  one  of  the  most  active  in  the 
Commonwealth.  Its  tin-plate  mills  are  especially  large.  The  works  of  the 
Carnegie  Steel  Company,  which  operates  4  blast  furnaces,  a  Bessemer 
steel  plant  with  212-ton  vessels,  and  a  steel  and  tin-bar  mill,  have  an 
annual  output  of  700,000  tons  of  pig  iron,  660,000  tons  of  Bessemer  ingots, 
and  600,000  tons  of  sheet  and  tin  bar.  The  tin  and  steel  industries  give 
employment  to  thousands  of  hands,  which,  added  to  the  great  window- 
glass  and  brick  plants  and  the  limestone  industries  of  the  community, 
constitute  an  army  of  workers  10,000  strong.  There  are  82  industrial 
plants,  and  the  value  of  production  is  in  excess  of  $38,000,000.  Some 
idea  of  the  proportions  annually  reached  in  the  various  industries  may 
be  had  from  the  following  figures :  Pig  iron,  950,000  tons  ;  window  glass, 
14,000,000  square  feet;  muck  bar,  26,600  tons;  skelp,  39,125  tons;  brick, 
30,000,000;  stoves,  ranges,  etc.,  15,000;  bolts  and  nuts,  rivets,  etc.,  iSo,ooo 
tons ;  clay,  10,000  tons ;  limestone,  2,000,000  tons ;  asphalt  blocks, 
2,500,000;  sand,  10,000  tons;  sandstone,  150,000  tons;  enameled  ware, 
6,240,000  pieces ;  fine  chinaware  to  the  total  value  of  $500,000 ; 
wooden  boxes,  3,000,000;  artificial  ice,  90.000  tons;  wire  novelties,  150 
tons;  finished  lumber,  15,500,000  feet.  Among  many  other  and  varied 
products  are  push  buttons,  car  trimmings  and  hardware  specialties,  fuse 
boxes,  ship  lights,  steam  pumps,  machinery,  boilers,  castings,  blast-furnace 
jackets,  paints  and  oils,  chemicals,  pulp  plaster,  paper,  semi-vitreous 
sanitary  ware,  pottery  and  tableware,  rolled  steel,  and  a  score  of  minor 
articles. 

IVilliamsport,  in  Lycoming  County,  has  a  population  of  31,860. 
Including  the  South  Williamsport  and  Vallamont  suburbs,  the  population 
is  42,000.  The  city  has  an  elevation  of  528  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
sea.  There  are  159  industrial  plants,  employing  5641  workers,  and  pro- 
ducing annually  goods  valued  at  $13,348,000.  The  principal  lines  of 
manufacture  are  furniture,  silk,  shoes,  and  steel. 

Easton,  in  Northampton  County,  with  a  population  of  28,523,  has 
doubled  in  size  in  20  years.  Northampton  County  comprises  382  square 
miles  of  land  west  of  the  Delaware  River,  and  between  the  Kittatinny 
Mountain,  the  ]irincipal  mountain  on  the  north,  and  the  South  Mountain 

238 


Pciiiisylz'aiiia  Cities 

on  the  south.  The  Delaware  and  Lehigh  Rivers  both  pass  through  the 
mountains  in  this  section,  here  called  the  Blue  Mountains,  by  gaps. 
Northampton  was  erected  during  the  joint  proprietorship  of  Thomas 
and  Richard  Penn,  in  the  spring  of  1752.  The  county  and  city  were 
both  named  by  Thomas  Penn,  who  in  a  letter  from  England  in  the  fall 
of  1751.  wrote:  "Some  time  since  I  wrote  to  Dr.  Graeme  and  Mr.  Peters 


GLAZED    KID    INDUSTRY 


to  lay  out  some  ground  in  the  forks  of  Delaware  for  a  town,  which  I 
suppose  they  have  done,  or  begim  to  do.  I  desire  it  to  be  called  Easton, 
from  my  Lord  Pomfret's  house,  and  whenever  there  is  a  new  county,  to 
be  called  Northampton."  The  site,  subject  to  the  wishes  of  the  proprie- 
taries, was  selected  by  Nicholas  Schull,  surveyor  general,  and  the  town 
was  laid  out  by  William  Parsons  in  the  spring  of  1752. 

The  city  to-day  has  excellent  railroad  facilities,  and  is  connected 
with  the  Delaware  River,  and  so  with  Philadelphia,  by  the  Lehigh  Coal 
and  Navigation  Canal.  Advantages  and  resources  of  a  wide  variety  have 
drawn  attention  to  the  Lehigh  Valley  as  a  good  location  for  manufactories. 

Among  the  numerous  articles  manufactured  in  the  city  and  imme- 
diate vicinity  are  hosiery,   silk  and  cotton  goods,  cigars,  confectionery, 


239 


F^ciiiisxli'iuiia  0)1(1  Its  Manifold  .Ictivitics 

pianos,  jewelry,  brass  and  bronze  castings,  mill  and  steam  fitters'  supplies, 
lumber  fertilizer,  wagons,  belting,  foundry  and  macbine  sbop  products, 
cement,  and  serpentine  marble.  The  surrounding  hills  are  rich  in  brown 
hematite  iron  ore,  mineral  oxides,  yellow  and  brown  ochre,  limestone, 
building  stone,  marble,  verdolite,  soapstone,  brick  clay,  and  sand.  There 
are  126  industrial  plants,  employing  3200  workers,  and  the  annual  value 
of  production  is  $7,000,000. 

Norristoiim  Borough,  Montgomery  County,  has  a  population  of 
27,857.  It  has  III  manufacturing  plants,  employing  4400  people.  The 
principal  industries  are  knitting  machinery,  woolens,  hosiery,  shirts, 
cigars,  cotton  goods,  lumber,  and  spinning  mills. 

Shenandoah  Borough  is  located  in  the  anthracite  fields  of  Schuylkill 
County,  and  its  people  are  principally  engaged  in  mining.  It  has  a  popu- 
lation of  25,774,  and  10,000  work  in  the  mines.  The  elevation  above 
sea  level  is  1300  feet.     There  are  29  industrial  establishments. 

Hadeton,  in  Luzerne  County,  has  a  population  of  25,452.  It  has 
35  industries,  employing  about  10,000  workers.  The  value  of  production, 
not  including  the  coal  mining  industry,  which  is  large,  is  $7,000,000.  The 
principal  plants  are  pump  works,  iron  works,  silk  and  other  textile  mills. 

Butler,  in  Butler  County,  is  situated  in  an  important  tonnage  devel- 
oping district.  It  has  20,728  people,  and  is  1077  feet  above  the  sea  level. 
There  are  30  industrial  plants,  employing  7500  and  turning  out  annually 
products  valued  at  $15,000,000.  Leading  industries  are  the  Standard 
Steel  Car  Works,  Standard  Plate  Glass  Works,  and  Hickson  Bedstead 
Works. 

Pottsville  Borough,  in  Schuylkill  County,  has  a  population  of  20,236. 
It  has  91  industrial  plants,  employing  about  3000  workers  and  turning  out 
an  annual  production  valued  at  upward  of  $9,000,000. 


240 


Thriving  Smaller  Communities 

IN  ADDITION  to  these  larger  coniniunities.  Pennsyhania  has  41 
cities  and  boroughs  having  po])ulation  between  10,000  and  20,000. 
Of  this  group,  the  largest  is  South  Bethlehem  Borough. 

South  Bethlehem  Borough,  in  Northampton  County,  has  a 
population  of  19,973.  It  has  50  plants,  employing  15,000  hands.  Among 
these  are  the  extensive  works  of  the  Bethlehem  Steel  Company,  the 
Didier-iVIarch  Coke  Company,  the  Bethlehem  Foundry  and  Machine 
Company,  silk  and  hosiery  mills,  and  wood  and  paper-box  factories. 

Shainokiii  Boroui/h,  in  Northumberland  County,  has  a  population 
of  19,558.  With  its  immediate  suburbs  it  has  a  population  of  35,000. 
Being  in  the  anthracite  region,  mining  is  its  chief  industry.  It  has, 
however,  39  manufacturing  establishments,  employing  more  than  1600 
hands,  and  having  an  annual  production  in  excess  of  $3,500,000.  In  the 
collieries  and  manufacturing  plants  there  are  employed  16,000. 

Braddock  Borough,  in  Allegheny  County,  has  a  population  of  19,357. 
The  borough  contains  41  manufacturing  plants,  employing  upward  of 
1000  hands  and  turning  out  production  valued  at  upward  of  $5,000,000 
annually. 

Lebanon,  in  Lebanon  County,  has  a  population  of  19,240.  It  has 
109  manufacturing  establishments,  employing  6000  hands,  and  the  annual 
value  of  production  is  $11,500,000. 

IVilkinshurg  Borough,  in  Allegheny  County,  has  a  population  of 
18,924,  having  advanced  in  the  decade  from  11,886.  There  are  24  manu- 
facturing establishments. 

Washington,  in  Washington  County,  has  a  population  of  i^^jyS.  It 
is  the  center  of  great  natural  resources.  Rich  deposits  of  coal,  oil,  gas,  and 
limestone  have  been  taken  from  the  hills  and  valleys  of  the  county,  and 
many  millions  still  lie  beneath  the  soil.  Over  160,000,000  tons  of  coal 
have  been  mined  in  this  county,  and  fully  2,733,000,000  tons  remain, 
which,  it  is  estimated,  will  take  200  years  to  mine  at  the  present  rate  of 
production.  The  most  important  oil  and  gas  development  took  place  in 
the  brief  period  from  early  in  the  year  1884  until  late  in  1886,  when  the 
highest  point  was  reached.    Nearly  all  of  the  successful  wells  yielded  oil, 

241 


Pcinisylz'aiiia  and  Its  Manifold  Activities 

ihoui^li  the  tk'ld  has  contained  a  lew  scattered  gas  wells.  Some  oil  wells 
were  drilled,  which  ])ro(luce(l  2500  or  more  barrels  per  day.  The  very 
rapid  growth  of  the  town  was  largely  due  to  this  development,  which 
changed  the  comnnniit}-  over  night  from  a  (|uiet  college  town  to  a  bustling 
city.  To-dav  the  gas  activity  is  principally  confined  to  what  is  known  as 
the  Lone  Pine  field,  where  more  than  sixtx-hve  good-producing  wells  have 
been  drilled.  Drilling  is  still  going  on.  Only  a  few  oil  wells  w^ere  drilled  in 
the  county  in  1910.  Those  in  the  region  of  the  borough  of  McDonald  are 
the  best  producers.  Seventy-five  industries  are  located  in  the  borough. 
More  than  4200  men  are  employed,  and  $3,000,000  in  wages  are  annually 
paid  to  them. 

In  addition  to  the  vast  mineral  resources  of  the  region,  the  soil  is 
fertile.  For  three-quarters  of  a  century  Washington  was  a  great  wool- 
growing  county.  To-day  a  clip  of  1,000,000  pounds  per  annum  is  pro- 
duced, but  the  distinction  of  being  the  banner  wool  county  of  the  Union, 
wdiich  was  the  case  for  several  decades,  is  no  longer  enjoyed. 

Nanticoke,  Luzerne  County,  has  a  population  of  18,877.  Its  indus- 
tries include  10  collieries  within  a  radius  of  three  miles,  two  silk  mills, 
two  hosiery  mills,  one  cigar  factory,  one  machine  shop,  one  mine-drill 
manufactory,  two  flour  and  feed  mills.  The  elevation  is  600  feet  above 
sea  level.  Between  1900  and  1910  Nanticoke  made  a  gain  of  55.7  per 
cent,  in  population.  This  was  largely  due  to  its  enterprise  in  reaching 
out  after  new  industries  and  to  the  fact  of  its  having  cheap  fuel  supply. 
It  has  17  manufacturing  plants. 

Homestead,  in  Allegheny  County,  has  a  population  of  18.713.  Seven 
miles  from  Pittsburgh,  it  is  in  the  great  steel-producing  district,  and  its 
principal  plant  is  that  of  the  Carnegie  Steel  Company.  It  is  on  the  lines 
of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  and  the  Pittsburgh  and  Lake  Erie  Railroad. 

Dunmore,  in  Lackawanna  County,  has  a  population  of  17,615,  having 
made  a  gain  of  approximately  40  per  cent,  in  the  decade.  It  has  18  indus- 
trial plants,  employing  1308  wage  earners,  and  the  annual  value  of  pro- 
<luctioii  is  $1,851,000. 

Mt.  Carmel  Borough,  in  Northumberland  County,  has  a  population 
of  17,532,  having  advanced  from  13,179  in  the  1900-1910  decade. 
Mt.  Carmel  has  20  manufacturing  establishments. 

Carhondale,  in  Lackawanna  County,  has  a  population  of  17,040.  The 
city  is  1300  feet  above  the  sea  level.  There  are  34  industrial  plants, 
enii)loying  upward  of  1500  workers  and  turning  out  product  valued  at 
more  than  $2,500,000  annually.     Among  the  industries  aside  from  coal 

242 


Thriving  Smaller  CoiiniiiDiitics 


243 


J'onisyli'aiiiii  and  Its  Manifold  .IctiT'itics 

mining  arc  welding  wm'ks,  Icjcomotive  shops,  iron  and  brass  fonndries, 
car  shops,  railroad  shops,  instrument  works,  flouring  mills,  mining 
machinery,  broad  silk  mills,  bol)bin  works,  perforated  plate  works, 
printeries,  throwing  mills,  planing  mills,  and  refrigerating-machinery 
works.  Three  railroads  touch  the  city,  the  New  York,  Ontario  and 
Western,  the  Erie,  and  the  Delaware  and  Hudson. 

Plyjtioiitli,  Luzerne  County,  has  a  population  of  16,966.  Nearby 
poi)ulatjon  increases  this  to  25,000.  There  are  in  the  borough  eight  large 
anthracite  coal  mines,  hosiery  factories,  silk  mills,  and  machine  works. 
In  all  there  are  23  manufacturing  establishments. 

rittstoii,  in  Luzerne  County,  has  16,267  people,  making  a  gain  of 
about  25  per  cent,  in  the  decade.     It  has  40  manufacturing  plants. 

Mahanoy  City  Borough,  in  Schuylkill,  has  15,936  people,  showing  a 
creditable  advance  in  the  decade.  It  is  one  of  the  important  anthracite 
communities.      There   are   in   the   borough   33    industrial    establishments. 

Diiqncsnc  BoroiigJi,  in  Allegheny  County,  has  a  population  of  15.727. 
Its  advance  in  the  decade  was  very  rapid,  there  being  an  increase  in 
population  of  about  60  per  cent.,  owing  to  its  participation  in  the  indus- 
trial advance  of  the  Pittsburgh  district  generally. 

0/7  City,  in  Venango  County,  has  a  population  of  15,657.  The  rapid 
advance  that  it  had  in  the  earlier  years  of  oil  development  has  not  been 
equalled  in  recent  years.  It  has  34  industrial  establishments,  employing 
1338  people,  and  having  an  annual  value  of  production  in  excess  of 
$4,000,000. 

Pottstowu  Borough,  in  Montgomery  County,  has  a  population  of 
i5'599-  Jt  has  an  elevation  of  150  feet  above  the  sea  level.  Its  principal 
industry  is  its  iron  works.  There  are  jS>  plants,  employing  over 
3600  hands,  and  the  value   of   production   is   in   excess   of   $12,500,000. 

Sharon  Borough,  in  fiercer  County,  has  a  population  of  15,270,  and 
showed  an  advance  of  75  per  cent,  in  the  decade.  It  has  45  industrial 
plants,  employing  about  3500  hands,  and  the  annual  value  of  production 
is  $10,000,000. 

McKecs  Rocks  Borough,  situated  in  one  of  the  busiest  sections  of 
Allegheny  County,  has  a  population  of  14.702,  and  is  the  largest  among 
the  23  cities  and  boroughs  in  the  State  of  Pennsylvania  having  popula- 
tions ranging  from  15,000  down  to  10,000.  The  borough  is  in  the  Pitts- 
burgh district,  and  shares  in  its  activity  in  the  iron  and  steel  industry. 
There  are  31   manufacturing  establishments. 

244 


Thrniiiij  S)iiallcr   Coiiiiiiitititics 

Bradford,  in  McKean  County,  has  a  population  of  14,544.  The  city 
is  1550  feel  al)ove  the  sea.  It  has  82  industrial  plants,  employing  2350 
workers,  and  having  an  aggregate  ])roduction  of  about  $5,000,000. 

Stcdfojt.  in  Dauphin  County,  has  14,246  people.  Its  principal  indus- 
try is  the  plant  of  the  Pennsylvania  Steel  Company. 

Sinihury,  Xorthumherland  County,  has  13,770  people.  Among  its 
leading  industries  are  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  shops  and  Sus(iuehanna 
silk  mills. 

Uiiioiitowii,  Fayette  County,  has  13,344  people,  having  almost 
doubled  its  population  in  the  ten  years  from  1900  to  1910. 

Crcciisbnrc/  Borough,  in  Westmoreland  County,  population  13,012, 
has  the  record  of  having  increased  its  population  nearly  100  per  cent, 
in  the  last  decade. 

Connellsz'iUc,  Fayette  County,  has  12,845  people,  15  plants,  3000 
workers.  Its  leading  industries  are  tin  plate,  glass,  tubing,  mining 
machinery,  and  pumps. 

BcthlcJicm  Borough,  m  Lehigh  and  Northampton  Counties,  has  a 
population  of  I2,8^~. 

Xorfh  Braddock  Borough,  in  Allegheny  County,  has  11,824  people, 
and  has  advanced  over  80  per  cent,  in  10  years. 

MeadviUc  City,  in  Crawford  County,  has  12,780  people.  It  has  25 
industrial  plants,  employing  2000  people. 

Dubois,  Clearfield  County,  has  a  population  of  12,634,  an  increase  of 
about  30  per  cent,  in  the  last  decade.  Among  the  manufactories  are  a 
tannery,  two  iron  works,  machine  shops  and  factory  making  brass  cast- 
ings, mine,  mill,  and  tannery  machinery. 

Beaver  Falls  Borough,  in  Beaver  County,  has  a  population  of  12,191. 

Chanibersburg,  Franklin  County,  has  11,800  people  and  12  plants  that 
employ  2400  workers.     It  is  560  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea. 

Monessen,  Westmoreland  County,  has  11,775  people  and  six  plants 
that  employ  6000  workers.  Its  leading  industries  are  the  Pittsburgh  Steel 
Company  and  the  American  Sheet  and  Tin  Plate  Company. 

West  Chester  Borough,  in  Chester  County,  has  a  population  of  11.767, 
showing  a  marked  gain  in  the  lo-year  period.  It  is  situated  in  the  center 
of  a  rich  agricultural  district.  There  are  in  the  borough  t,-,  industrial 
establishments. 

Columbia  Borough,  in  Lancaster  County,  has  a  population  of  11,454. 

Old  Forge  Borough,  in  Lackawanna  County,  is  credited  with  an 
advance  of  100  per  cent. — from  5630  in  1900  to  11,324  in  1910. 

245 


/'ciiiisyli'iiiiiii  and  lis  Manifold  .Ict'nitics 

CoatcsviUc.  Cliester  County,  has  11,084  populalioii  and  15  plants, 
with  ()000  workers.  'I'hese  establishments  include  the  Lukens  Iron  and 
Steel  Com])an)-,  which  manufactured  the  first  plate  iron  to  be  made  in 
the  United  States.  It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  this  plant  was  named 
after  one  of  the  most  capable  business  women  that  Pennsylvania  has 
produced.  It  was  originally  the  Brandywine  Rolling  Mill.  Following 
the  death  of  Dr.  Charles  Lukens  the  management  devolved  upon  his 
wife,  Rebecca  W.  Lukens,  who  conducted  it  profitably  for  two  decades. 
After  her  death  the  name  was  changed  as  a  tribute  to  her  memory. 

The  Worth  Bros.  Company  is  another  very  important  Coatesville 
enterprise.  Its  output  of  plates,  open-hearth  steel,  boiler  tul)es,  etc.,  is 
extensive. 

ll'arrcn,  in  \\'arren  County,  has  a  population  of  11,080;  131  industrial 
plants,  em])loying  1400.  The  annual  value  of  production  is  in  excess  of 
$4,500,000.  The  leading  industries  are  iron  works  and  oil  refineries. 
Warren  is  1193  feet  above  sea  level. 

Phooiixvillc,  Chester  County,  has  a  population  of  10,743;  31  plants, 
employing  about  3000.  The  Phoenix  Iron  Company  and  Bridge  Company 
are  the  largest  industries. 

Carlisle  Borough,  in  Cumberland  County,  has  a  ])opulation  of  10,303; 
South  Sharon,  in  fiercer  Count}',  10,190;  Carnegie,  in  Allegheny  County, 
10,009. 


246 


SPECIAL  ACTIVITIES 

OF  THE 

COMMON\^  EALTH 


DR.    W.    F.    WILSON 

Chairman  Commitlee  on   Place 

of  Meeting 


THEO.  KOLISCHER 
Chairman  Ladies'  Committee 


MURDOCH   KENDRICK 
Vice-chairman  Entertainment 


SAMUEL   L.    KENT 
Vice-chairman  Committee 
Hotel  Accommodations 


Protection  of  Health 

OF  THE  many  special  lines  of  work  which  the  State  conducts  for 
the  benefit  of  its  people,  the  work  of  reforestation,  which  con- 
serves one  of  the  first  sources  of  wealth  and  prosperity,  has 
been  treated  of  under  the  heading  of  natural  resources. 

High  in  importance  among  these  numerous  activities  is  that  which 
is  intended  to  safeguard  the  health  of  the  people — the  extensive  work  of 
the  State  Department  of  Health.  Figures  showing  the  reduction  in 
the  death  rate  from  \'arious  diseases,  from  the  time  when  broad  powers 
were  given  to  the  department,  are  ample  testimony  to  the  value  and 
importance  of  this  work.  As  a  result  of  the  control  given  to  the  depart- 
ment over  the  water  supply  and  sewerage  systems  of  the  State,  there  is 
to-day  60  per  cent,  less  typhoid  fever  than  there  was  seven  years  ago,  a 
condition  which  represents  an  annual  saving  to  the  Commonwealth  of 
ap]Trt)ximately  $15,000,000.  There  are  in  the  upland  districts  of  the 
State  many  minor  watersheds,  sparsely  populated,  whose  supplies  of 
water  are  used  by  the  municipalities  in  the  valleys,  where  until  recently 
typhoid  fever  and  other  water-borne  diseases  were  prevalent.  Further- 
more, the  protection  of  water  supplies  by  the  State  extends  to  the  farm, 
where  careless  methods  of  sewage  disposal  have  polluted  wells  and  springs 
and  milk  supplies. 

In  1906,  56.5  persons  out  of  every  100,000  in  Pennsylvania  died  of 
typhoid  fever;  in  1907,  50.3;  in  1908,  34.4;  in  1910,  24.5.  This  means 
that  there  are  now  living  more  than  twenty-four  hundred  persons  who, 
had  the  death  rate  of  1906  prevailed  in  1910,  would  have  died  of  typhoid. 

Perhaps  even  more  remarkable  is  the  showing  made  l:)y  the  depart- 
ment in  its  fight  against  tuberculosis.  In  1907  a  State  appropriation  of 
$1,000,000  was  made  for  the  purpose  of  organizing  a  campaign  against 
the  disease.  This  enabled  the  department  to  take  over,  for  use  as  a 
sanatorium,  a  camp  that  had  been  established  by  the  State  Forestry 
Department  at  Mont  Alto.  This  was  at  once  enlarged  and  plans  made  for 
a  great  sanatorium  for  incipient  and  moderately  advanced  cases.  In  1909, 
$2,000,000  was  appropriated  for  the  work,  and  in  191 1,  $2,653,000.  This 
enabled  the  department  to  increase  the  size  of  the  Mont  Alto  Sanatorium. 

249 


I'cinis\l:'iini(i  and   Its   Manifold  .Iclirihcs 

'l"ii-(Ia\-  it  lia^  ca])acit\-  fur  looo  patients.  (Jnc  additional  sanatorium 
with  larye  proxision  for  advanced  cases  is  under  construction  in  the 
Alleglieny  Mountains,  west  of  the  center  of  the  State,  on  the  tract  of  huid 
presented  to  the  ("oninionwealth  hy  Anch'ew  Carnegie.  Land  lias  loeen 
purchased  near  I  lanibin-g.  southeast  of  the  center  of  the  Commonwealth, 
for  a  third  sanatnrinm. 

iM-om  June  i,  1907,  to  June  30,  191  i.  5531  patients  were  admitted 
to  the  State  Sanatorium  at  Mont  Alto.  Many  patients  have  heen  dis- 
charged with  the  disease  arrested,  hundreds  have  heen  henefited,  and 
nian\-  more  whose  cases  were  too  far  advanced  to  hope  for  mtich  aid 
have  been  made  comfortable  and  i)ro\-ided  with  a  home  where  they 
would  not  be  a  source  of  danger  to  others. 

Each  large  center  of  population  in  the  Commonwealth  is  now  i)ro- 
vided  with  a  tuljerculosis  dispensary,  where  the  indigent  may  secure  free 
treatment,  free  advice,  and  the  usual  su])])lies  required  to  prevent  dissem- 
ination of  the  disease,  and,  in  case  of  great  need,  eggs  and  milk.  This 
division  at  the  present  time  includes  a  total  of  348.  The  Dispensary 
Division  at  first  consisted  of  a  chief  of  dispensaries  and  a  local  repre- 
sentative— the  county  medical  inspector — in  67  counties,  each  in  charge 
of  a  dispensary.  Later  these  dispensaries  were  increased  to  115  in 
number  and  assistants  were  appointed  in  many  of  them.  Nurses  were 
soon  found  to  be  an  essential  adjunct  to  this  work,  so  that  to-day, 
including  115  dis])ensary  chiefs,  there  is  a  total  of  222  medical  men 
connected  with  this  division  and  110  nurses.  From  July  22,  1907,  to 
June  30,  191  I,  41,792  poor  tuberculosis  sufi^erers  had  received  the  skilled 
medical  aid  and  the  attention  of  trained  nurses.  The  death  rate  from 
pulmonar\-  tuberculosis  has  fallen  from  129.6  per  100,000  to  117.4. 

b'rom  ( )ctober,  1905,  when  the  State  began  its  free  distribution  of 
diphtheria  antitoxin  among  the  poor,  down  to  December,  1910,  27,318 
cases  of  this  disease,  mostly  in  children,  were  treated  with  the  senmi.  It 
is  estimated  that,  without  antitoxin.  42  out  of  ever}-  100  of  these  children 
would  probably  haN'e  died;  but  with  the  aid  of  the  State's  antitoxin,  only 
2324  died,  and  the  death  rate  was  reduced  to  8.5  per  cent,  b^-ee  anti- 
toxin was  also  given  for  immunization  purposes  in  20.294  cases,  mostly 
children,  who  had  been  in  contact  with  the  disease.  .Ml  but  335  of  these 
were  absolutely  protected  against  diphtheria.  The  actual  saving  of  child 
life  resulting  from  the  State's  free  distribution  of  diphtheria  antitoxin 
since  1905  is  estimated  at  9152  li\es. 

In  administering  the  laws  the  Department  of    1  lealth  has  perfected 


250 


Protection   of   Health 


251 


Pciiiisylzuinia  aiul  Its  Manifold  .Ictrritics 

an  organization  in  the  Engineering  Division,  comprising  six  bureaus, 
which  has  in  charge  the  various  matters  pertaining  to  water  supplies, 
sewerage  and  drainage  systems  and  works,  disposal  of  manufactural  and 
domestic  wastes,  and  the  consideration  and  abatement  of  nuisances  and 
menaces.  In  one  bureau  all  applications  for  the  establishment,  extensions 
or  alterations  to  water-works  systems  and  drainage  systems  are  received 


Ciipyiisht   190b,   hy    WiUi.im    H.    Rait 

ROTUNDA    AXl)    (;UA.\I)    STAIRCASE,    PENNSYLVANIA    STATE    CAPITOL 

and  considered.  The  department's  engineers  make  surveys  and  field 
investigations  with  respect  to  these  problems,  and  upon  their  reports  and 
the  facts  submitted  by  the  applicants  the  permits  or  decrees  are  issued. 
No  municipality,  corporation,  or  individual  is  permitted  to  build  water 
works  and  sewer  systems  or  to  maintain  the  same  without  State  super- 
vision and  control. 

Another  bureau  looks  after  the  operation  of  the  filter  plants  used  to 
purify  public  water-supplies.  A  corps  of  assistants  constantly  travel  about, 
making  tests  of  the  filter  plants  and  sewage-treatment  works,  in  order  to 
maintain  the  standard  of  et^ciency.  This  saves  much  water-borne  sick- 
ness and  mortalitv  therefrom.     Another  l)urcau  deals  with  all  construction 


252 


Protection  of  Ileaitli 

work  heiny  done  1)_\'  the  deparlnicnt  in  connection  with  the  sanitary 
requirements  of  State  institutions,  such  as  water  and  sewerage,  garbage 
disposal,  etc. 

Still  another  bureau  controls  the  sanitary  surveys  of  the  minor 
watersheds  of  Pennsylvania.  Occupied  estates  on  watersheds  are 
inspecteil  by  these  officials,  wells  and  springs  are  overhauled,  pollutions 
are  stoi)ped.  Attention  is  given  to  the  disposal  of  sewage  at  the  dairy 
and  truck  farm,  and  thus  in  its  inception  there  is  cut  olT  a  source  of 
infection  that  in  the  past  has  made  its  circuit  from  the  rural  districts 
through  the  vegetables  and  the  milk  and  the  water  to  the  town,  and, 
from  the  town,  returned  back  into  the  country. 

Nuisances  and  complaints  that  enter  into  the  floiuain  of  municipal 
sanitation  and  public  hygiene  are  in  charge  of  a  separate  bureau,  while 
another  bureau  attends  to  the  general  office  work  and  to  the  preparation 
of  maps  and  reports  and  the  collection  and  interpretation  of  data  and 
analyses  of  waters.  An  important  part  of  the  work  of  the  department 
has  been  the  dissemination  of  information  on  health  questions  to  the 
public.  This  has  been  accomplished  by  bulletins,  and  by  enlisting  the 
co-operation   of   the   public   press. 

Pure  Food  Crusade 

Closely  akin  to  the  work  of  the  Department  of  Health  is  that  of  the 
Dairy  and  Food  Bureau,  which  in  the  last  few  years  has  worked  a  revo- 
lution in  the  methods  of  preparation  of  food  sold  to  the  public.  This 
work  is  a  division  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture.  The  enforcement 
of  the  law  is  placed  directly  in  the  charge  of  a  Dairy  and  Food  Com- 
missioner. Under  the  law,  the  Commissioner  and  his  agents  are  given 
full  access  to  all  places  of  business  manufacturing,  transporting,  or 
selling  foods. 

During  the  year  19 lo  the  Dairy  and  Food  authorities  caused  to  be 
analyzed  samples  as  follows:  Milk,  1777;  cream,  499;  condensed  milk, 
16;  ice  cream,  288;  cheese,  11;  butter,  938;  renovated  butter,  i;  oleo- 
margarine, 283 ;  meat  products,  257 ;  lard,  20 ;  eggs,  ^/  ;  canned  fruit 
and  vegetables,  215;  catsups,  etc.,  129;  fruit  butters,  jams,  etc.,  74; 
vinegar,  25;  bakery  products,  122;  candy,  336;  flavoring  extracts,  40; 
non-alcoholic  drinks,   278;  miscellaneous,   161. 

\\dien  first  enacted,  the  food  laws  were  received  by  many  intelligent 
citizens  with  some  doubt  as  to  their  wisdom  and  necessity.  The  doubt 
regarding   their   wisdom    grew    largely   out   of   the    fact    that    the    prime 

253 


Pciiiisxivaiiici  011(1  I ts  Manifold  .  Icliritics 

rcsponsiljilily  for  sales  of  adulterated  and  misbranded  foods  was  placed 
upon  the  retailer,  and  it  \va>  very  generally  questioned  whether  it  was 
either  wise  or  fair  to  tix  the  responsibility  at  this  point  in  the  chain  of 
transactions  extending  from  the  factory  to  the  hands  of  the  consumer. 
The  public  has,  however,  come  generally  to  understand  that  the  difficulty 
of  securing  adequate  proof  against  the  jcjbbers  and  manufacturers  made 
it  necessary  to  re(|uire  of  the  retailer  the  acceptance  of  the  large  responsi- 
bility imposed  by  the  law.  and  that  he  correspondingly  take  measures  to 
protect  himself  by  increased  care  in  the  purchase  of  the  supplies  which 
he  selects   for  distribution   to  his  customers. 

The  public  education  upon  the  methods  of  food  manufacture,  the 
nature  of  the  raw  material  employed  therein,  and  the  serious  character 
of  the  frauds  which  have,  in  earlier  years,  been  perpetrated  upon  the 
buying  public  have  dispelled  the  doubt  as  to  the  necessity  of  such  legis- 
lation and  have  made  clear  the  principle  that  the  man  who  makes  a  busi- 
ness of  manufacturing  on  a  large  scale  the  foods  used  to  maintain  the 
vigor  and  health  of  the  people  occupies  a  position  of  trust. 

The  extent  of  public  information  upon  food  subjects  at  the  present 
day,  as  compared  with  that  of  a  decade  ago,  is  almost  a  matter  for 
surprise.  To  the  discovery  and  spread  of  this  information  many  agencies 
have  contributed.  Most  conspicuous  of  all  these  agencies  has  been  the 
public  press,  to  whose  live  and  aggressive  support  of  all  measures  look- 
ing to  the  more  perfect  control  of  food  production  and  distribution  a 
large  degree  of  admiration  is  due. 


254 


The  State  Highways 

B^■  THE  terms  of  an  Act  of  the  Legislature,  approved  May  31, 
njii,  tlie  Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania  is  committed  to  a 
policy  of  highway  improvement  broader  than  that  of  any  other 
State  in  the  Union.  This  act  makes  provision  for  the  taking  oxer,  on 
June   I,    1912,  of  highway   routes  covering  7500  miles,   which   are  to  be 


STAGE-COACH    AND  CONESTOGA   WAGON   AT  ROAI)SU)E   INN 

maintained  by  and  under  control  of  the  State.  The  act  carried  an 
appropriation  of  $3,000,000  to  be  expended  on  those  highways  where 
the  State  is  to  pay  the  entire  cost  of  improvement,  and  $1,000,000  to  be 
spent  on  those  highways  which  are  to  be  improved  jointly  by  the  State 
and  the  township  or  borough. 

Prior  to  the  adoption  of  this  comprehensive  plan  of  improvement 
the  State  had  provided  liberally  for  the  improvement  of  highways. 

There  are  97,940  miles  of  township  roads  in  the  State,  of  which 
1580  miles  had  been  improved  by  townships,  331  miles  by  counties,  and 
747  miles  with  State  aid  under  contract  with  the  State  Highway  Depart- 


255 


rcniisyh'aniii  and  lis  Maiiijold  .Ictiiitics 

mciit.  at  a  cost  of  $8,947,262.91  ;  the  State  I'aying  three-fourths,  the 
counties  one-ei<jhth,  and  the  townships  one-eighth  of  the  total  cost.  The 
average  cost  of  tlie  completed  roads  constructed  with  State  aid.  including 
grading,  drainage,  stone  for  telford  foundation  and  for  macadam  toj). 
and  bricks  for  to]),  together  with  damages  jiaid  for  change  of  location 
of     roads   and    for  engineering  and     ins])ection.    is   $11,375.18   per   mile. 


Copyright   IVOh,   hy    William   H.   Rau 

SENATE    CHAMIiER, 


\SVE\AXIA    ST. 


There  had  been  a])proi)riated  for  reconstruction  work  $9,500,000.  CLiver- 
ing  the  ])eriod  from  June  i.  1903,  to  Alay  31.  191 1.  This  amount  was 
apportioned  to  the  several  counties — outside  of  Philadelphia  County — 
according  to  the  number  of  miles  of  township  roads  in  a  county.  Ten 
per  cent,  of  the  appropriation  was  set  aside  as  a  maintenance  fund  to  be 
apportioned  to  the  townships  and  counties  having  imi)roved  roads  accord- 
ing to  the  number  of  miles  of  roads  improved. 

Under  the  new  act  no  less  than  296  routes  are  marked  out  for 
improvement.  Early  in  191 2,  50  surveying  corps  began  to  make  surveys 
of  the  roads  connecting  county  seats.  All  public  roads,  highways, 
turnpikes,   and    toll-roads   subject   to   the   provisions   of    the    act.    f orm - 


256 


The  State  lUijIiways 

ing  and  being  main  traveled  roads  between  the  county  seats  of  the 
counties  of  the  Commonwealth,  and  main  traveled  routes  leading  to  the 
State  line,  and  between  principal  cities,  boroughs,  and  towns,  are  to  be 
built,  repaired,  and  maintained  at  the  sole  expense  of  the  Commonwealth. 
They  will  be  under  the  exclusive  authority  and  jurisdiction  of  the  State 
Highway  Department,  and  will  constitute  a  system  of  State  highways. 


Copyright   1106.   hy    William    H.    R,u< 

HOUSE    OF    REPRESENTATIVES    CHAMBER,    PENNSYLVANIA    STATE    CAPITOL 

The  highways  designated  in  the  act  as  State  highways  are  to  be 
taken  over  by  the  State  Highway  Department  from  the  counties  or  town- 
ships of  the  State,  and  when  so  taken  over  shall  thereafter  be  constructed 
and  maintained  at  the  expense  of  the  Commonwealth.  The  highways 
are  to  be  taken  over  in  whole  or  in  part,  from  time  to  time,  as  circum- 
stances and  conditions  will  permit.  It  is  provided  that  all  township  roads, 
abandoned  and  condemned  turnpikes,  or  turnpikes  that  may  hereafter 
be  abandoned  or  which  may  hereafter  be  condemned  and  paid  for  by  the 
county  in  which  the  same  may  be  located,  and  which  form  a  part  of  any 
such  highways,  are  to  be  taken  over  by  the  State  Highway  Department 
before  the  first  day  of  June,  1912. 


257 


/'ciuisyh'aiiiii  and   I  Is   Manifold  .  Ictiriiics 

\\u[  I)(.'\i)ii(l  the  ini])r(i\-cment  to  which  the  State  stands  committed 
with  re.^ard  to  this  system  of  State  highways,  it  is  to  hear  an  im])()rtant 
part  in  the  improvement  of  the  other  roads  of  the  State.  Counties  or 
townsliips  expressing  a  desire  for  State  aid  in  im])r(n  ement  of  roads  not 
defined  as  State  highways  are  entitled  to  recei\e  such  aid.  In  these 
cases  the  State  is  to  ])ay  not  more  tlian  50  i)er  cent,  of  the  cost  of  imi)ro\e- 
ment  and  niaintenar.ce.  (  )f  the  remaining  50  ])er  cent.,  in  ca>e>  where 
hotli  the  count\-  and  township  ask  for  aid.  they  shall  each  ])ay  one-half. 
or  2~)  per  cent,  of  the  total  cost. 

All  State  highways  under  the  provisicjus  of  the  act  are  to  he  marked 
with  suitable  signs,  having  the  words  "State  Highway""  and  the  year- 
date.  Signs,  or  distance  boards,  giving  directions  to  towns  or  villages, 
are  to  be  erected  at  cross  or  intersecting  roads.  These  are  to  be  paid 
for  as  jiart  of  the  cost  of  the  highway.  The  State  Highway  Commis- 
sioner nia_\-  also  cause  trees  to  be  i)lanted  and  maintained  along  highways. 

Xo  railroad  or  street  railway  is  to  be  hereafter  constructed  upon 
anv  State  highway,  nor  is  any  railroad  or  street  railway  crossing,  gas- 
pil)e.  water-pii)e.  electric  conduit,  or  other  piping  laid  in  anv  portion 
of  a  State  highway,  except  under  such  conditions,  restrictions,  and  regu- 
lations as  may  be  prescribed  by  the  State   Highway  Department. 

In  addition  to  his  other  duties,  the  highwa_\-  commissioner  is  to  have 
made  surveys  of  all  the  roads  in  the  State,  lie  is  to  make  a  general 
highway  plan  of  the  State  and  com])ile  statistics  and  collect  information 
relative  to  the  mileage,  character,  and  condition  of  highways.  He  is  to 
investigate  and  determine  u])on  the  various  methods  of  road  construction 
best  adapted  to  the  diilerent  sections  of  the  State,  and  establish  standards 
for  the  construction  and  maintenance  of  highways  in  various  sections, 
taking  into  consideration  the  topography  of  the  comitry.  the  natural 
conditions  and  the  character  and  availability  of  road-l)uilding  material, 
and  the  abilit\-  of  the  townshi]:)S  and  counties  to  build  and  maintain  roads. 

llefore  its  completion,  this  coni];reh.ensive  plan  for  the  improve- 
ment of  the  roads  of  the  State  will  in\ol\e  an  ex])enditure  of  $50,000,000. 


258 


EDUCATION 

IN 

PENNSYLVANIA 


GEORGE   VV.   McClRUV 
President  Common  Counci 


HERMAN    LOEB 

Direclor    Department  of  Supplies 


Department   Heads  and  Presidents  of  Councils,    Philadelphia 


The  State  and  the  Schools 

PUBLIC  education  in  Pennsylvania  had  its  beginnings  almost  with 
the  founding  of  the  colony.  There  still  exists  in  the  city  of  Phila- 
delphia an  institution  of  learning  which  was  founded  in  1689  and 
chartered  in  1697.  ^t  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  War  the  attention 
of  the  people  was  turned  toward  the  need  of  better  educational  facilities, 


giiMiiiiiM  am 


WILLIAM    PENN    HIGH     SCHOOL    FOR  GIRLS, 
PHILADELPHIA 


and  before  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century  many  schools  were  char- 
tered, which  are  to-day  alive  and  progressive.  Prior  to  1834,  when  the 
present  system  of  public  schools  was  established,  there  were,  in  the  State, 
many  sectarian  and  neighborhood  subscription  schools  where  the  poor 
could  receive  a  free  education.  In  1835,  a  year  after  the  establishment 
of  the  present  public-school  system,  an  attempt  was  made  to  repeal  the 
law,  but  already  the  system  was  intrenched  and  the  eiYort  was  defeated. 


261 


f'rmisylraiiiii  and  lis  Manifold  Acirritics 

Since  that  (la\   the  history  of  ])ul)Hc->cho()l  eiUicatioii  in   Pennsylvania  lias 
been  one  of  steady  adxance. 

The  i)ast  two  decades  have  witnessed  an  amazing  development  in  the 
policy  of  the  C/oninionwealth  toward  the  jjuhlic  schools.  .\])])roxiniateiy 
$45,000,000  is  s])ent  on  i)ul)lic-school  edncation  each  year  within  the 
borders   of    the    State.      (  )f    this    amount    there    is    contributed    from    the 


AUDITORIl'M,    \V1LI.I.\M    PEXN    RICH    SCHOOL    FOR    CURLS,    PHILADELPHIA 

State  treasury  $7,500,000  annuall} .    A  review  of  these  two  decades  shows 
the  following  advances : 

College  di])lonias  have  been  for  the  first  time  recognized  in  the  issuing 
of  teachers'  certificates.  Text-books  and  supplies  have  been  furnished 
free  to  all  pupils.  Com])ulsory  attendance  laws  have  been  enacted  and 
enforced,  giving  to  each  child  schooling  up  to  the  age  of  14  years.  The 
nuiuber  of  high  schools  has  risen  from  123  to  nearly  one  thousand. 
Minimum  salary  laws  have  resulted  in  giving  the  teachers  in  the  remotest 
districts  in  the  State  better  pay  than  thousands  of  teachers  in  New 
England  are  receiving.  Tuition  has  been  made  free  in  State  normal  schools 
and  the  course  of  study  lengthened  to  four  years.  A  new^  school  code 
has  been  enacted,  a  Bureau  of  Professional  Education  has  been  estab- 


262 


The    State    and    the    Schools 

lished.  and  a  lUireau  of  .Medical  l-'-ducalion  and  Licensure  has  l^een 
created  in  connection  with  the  Department  of  Puhlic  Instruction.  The 
standard  of  preliminary  education  for  the  study  of  law,  medicine,  dentistry, 
and  pharmacy  has  heen  raised  to  a  high-school  education  followed  hy 
three  years  of  ])r()fessional  study  in  the  case  of  lawyers  and  dentists,  and 
I)\-  four  \-ears  of  such  study  in  the  case  of  doctors.     'riu-oUi-iiout  tlie  Com- 


OPEX-AIR     SCHOOL     FOR     TriiERC 


)REN,     CITY      OF      PHILADELPHIA 


monwealth  liandsome  edifices  for  sc1k)o1  purposes  have  been  erected, 
excelling,  in  point  of  heating,  lighting,  ventilation,  sanitation,  seating, 
and  general  comfort,  the  average  home.  The  State  Legislature  has 
appropriated  for  school  purposes  more  than  $150,000,000  as  against  less 
than  $50,000,000  for  all  the  preceding  years. 

The  State  has  provided  for  an  expenditure  of  $15,000,000  every 
two  \ears  for  the  public  schools.  After  deducting  certain  general  items 
there  is  a  balance  of  $6,000,000  to  be  divided  annually,  to  aid  in  the  cause 
of  public  education.  One-half  of  this  amount  is  apportioned  on  the  basis 
of  the  number  of  teachers  employed  and  the  other  half  on  the  basis  of 
the  number  of  pupils  between  6  and  16  years. 

The  laws  of  the  State  jjrovide  to-day  that  the  boards  of  school 
directors  of  each  school  district  in  the  Commonwealth  shall  purchase 
all  necessary  furniture,  equipment,  text-books,  school  supplies,  and  other 
aj)pliances  for  use  of  the  public  scIkmjIs,  or  any  department  thereof,  in 
their  respective  districts,  and  furnish  the  same  free  of  cost  for  use  in 
the   schools  in   the   districts. 


263 


Pcinisylvaitid  and  Its  Manifold  .Iciivities 

The  extent  of  the  puljlic-school  system  in  Pennsylvania  is  shown  by 
the  following  statistical  statement   for  the  \ear  ending  Jmie  5,  191 1  : 

Number  of  school  districts  in  tlic  State   2,599 

Number  of  schools   35,084 

Number  of  superintendents    171 

Number  of  male  teachers   8,044 

Number  of  female  teachers  28,136 

Whole  number  of  teachers  36,180 

Average  salary  of  male  teachers  per  month $64.24 

Average  salary  of  female  teachers  per  moiith $47-98 

Average  length  of  school  term  in  months   8.52 

Whole  number  of  pupils    1,286,273 

Average  number  of  pupils  in  daily  attendance   1,028,290 

Cost  of  school  houses,  building,  renting,  etc $8,794,578.97 

Teachers'  wages  $20,244,715.69 

Co,st  of  school  text-books    ?858,67i.89 

Cost  of  school  supplies  other  than  text-hooks,  including  maps, 

globes,  etc $1,072,188.13 

Fuel,  contingencies,  fees  of  collectors  and  other  expenses....   $11,167,492.69 
Total   expenditures    $42,137,647.37 

In  the  addition.s  which  have  been  made  to  the  elemental  branches  of 
the  earlier  period,  Pennsylvania  has  kept  abreast  with  the  best  thought 
in  American  education.  It  was  one  of  the  pioneers  in  manual  training, 
and  it  is  now  developing  to  an  important  extent  its  vocational  training. 

An  interesting  recent  development  has  been  the  establishment  of  out- 
of-door  schools  for  tuberculous  children.  On  the  basis  of  special  investi- 
gations in  Boston  and  New  York,  it  is  estimated  that  there  are  nearly  a 
million  school  children  in  the  United  States  to-day  who  will  probably  die 
of  tuberculosis  before  they  have  reached  the  age  of  18  years,  and  that 
one-half,  if  not  three-fourths,  of  this  sickness  could  be  prevented.  For 
such  children,  open-air  schools  are  needed.  Three  years  ago  Philadelphia 
took  the  lead  among  the  cities  of  the  State  in  this  work.  It  has  now  three 
schools,  one  of  which  is  conducted  on  a  roof,  another  in  a  room  which  is 
open  at  all  four  sides,  and  a  third  in  a  room  which  may  be  opened  to  the 
air  when  desired,  by  the  lowering  of  sashes.  Not  only  in  the  simple  matter 
of  keeping  these  children  in  the  open  air,  but  also  in  the  special  care  given 
them,  is  their  physical  condition  improved.  Harrisburg  and  Pittsburgh 
have  followed  in  making  provisions  for  schools  of  this  kind. 

One  of  the  notable  advances  of  the  State  in  recent  years  in  educational 
matters  has  been  the  gradual  raising  of  the  standard  of  medical  education. 

264 


The  State  and  the  Schools 


265 


Priiiisxk'aiiiii  ami   Its  Maiiijold  .Uiirilics 

'I"1k'  r.iircau  of  I 're  ifcssional  Ivlucalion  hriiii^s  Pennsylvania  in  line  with 
llie  (illier  Slates  which  h_\-  authi>rit_\-  ot'  law  \est  in  the  School  l)ei)artnient 
the  power  of  ])assint;-  upon  the  preliniinai'v  edncaticjn  of  students  of 
medicine,  dentistry,  and  pharmacy.  The  liureau.  through  its  representa- 
tives, visits  the  hit,di  schools  and  other  schools  of  e(|ual  ijrade  for  the 
purpose  of  niakinj;-  an  accredited  list  of  secondar)-  >chools  from  which 
credentials  will  he  accepted  by  the  boards  of  examiners  in  these  branches 
of  professional  training.  Pennsylvania  has  an  unexcelled  system  of 
teachers'  institutes,  and  funds  are  provided  which  make  it  possible  to 
obtain  speakers  w  ho  place  I)efore  the  teachers  the  latest  and  best  thought 
on  all  subjects  th.at  have  to  do  with  their  profession. 

An  im])ortant  factor  in  the  general  education  of  the  peo])le  of  the 
State  lies  in  the  manv  museums  and  the  rich  collections  with  which  they 
have  been  endowed.  Carnegie  Institute,  at  Pittsburgh,  has  a  \  aluable 
art  collection  and  a  notable  natural  history  museum.  Its  work  in  the 
line  of  exploration  and  its  natural  history  researches  place  it  among  the 
leading  institutions  of  its  kind.  The  State  Museum,  at  I  larrislnu'g,  is 
a  remarkable  ex]iosition  of   Pennsyhania   resources. 

Among  Philadelphia  museums  of  note  are  the  Pennsylvania  .Academy 
of  the  b'ine  .Arts,  the  Pennsylvania  Museum  and  School  of  Industrial 
Art,  the  .Academy  of  Natural  Sciences,  the  Wistar  Institute  of  Natural 
History,  and  the  Wistar  Institute  of  .Anatomy.  The  museums  of  the 
Universit}'  of  Pennsylvania  are  notable  for  their  researches  in  biblical 
antiquity  and  modern  ethnology.  The  Commercial  Aluseum  is  devoted 
to  the  promotion  of  commerce  and  to  the  education  of  the  people  along 
the  lines  of  industr\-  and  i)roduction.  The  city  of  Philadelphia  has 
several  notable  ])rivate  art  collections,  which  are  eventually  to  form  a 
public  art   museum. 


266 


Colleges  of  Pennsylvania 

BESIDES  ha\iiig  within  its  l)or(lers  one  of  the  worhl's  hirj^est 
universities.  Pennsylvania  has  a  lar,<;e  number  of  ini])<)rtant 
universities  and  colleo^es.  Xo  State  in  the  L'nion  has  a  more 
vigorous  grou])  of  educational  institutions,  and  the  extent  to  which  they 
have  been  endowed  by  Pennsylvanians  is  proof  of  a  fixed  l^elief  in 
college  education  that  took  root  in  the  soil  of  the  State  in  its  earliest 
days.  Pennsylvania  colleges  have  grown  steadily  in  the  number  of 
their  students  and  in  equipment.  Po  illustrate  the  advance  in  number 
of  pupils.  Lehigh  L'niversity  has  grown  in  lo  years  from  less  than  400 
students  to  more  than  700.  State  College  from  less  than  303  to  1500.  and 
the  I'niversity  of  Pennsylvania  has  doubled  in  size,  increasing  its  enroll- 
ment from  23CO  to  more  than  5000. 

The  University  of  Pennsylvania. — Only  30  of  the  present  American 
colleges  and  universities  were  in  existence  when  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence was  signed,  and  onlv  six  of  these  were  founded  more  than  a 
century  and  a  half  ago.  The  University  of  Pennsylvania,  which  had  its 
origin  in  a  Charity  School  organized  in  1740.  was  jireceded  only  by 
Harvard  and  Yale.  Princeton  was  founded  three  years  later,  \\'ashington 
and  Lee  in  1749,  and  Columbia  in  1754.  Nine  years  after  the  Charity 
School  was  contem])lated  Benjamin  P>anklin  published  a  pam|)hlet  on 
"The  Education  of  Youth  in  Pennsylvania.""  which  resulted  in  the  fotmd- 
ing  of  an  Academy,  which  held  its  first  session  on  January  7,  1751,  in  the 
building  on  the  west  side  of  Fourth  Street,  below  .Vrch.  originally  con- 
structed for  the  Charity  School.  In  1753  the  trustees  secured  their 
first  charter  for  the  Academy,  and  two  years  later,  by  \irtue  of  a  second 
charter,  the  academy  was  converted  into  a  college,  with  full  power  to 
confer  the  usual  collegiate  degrees.  The  first  commencement  was  held 
on  May  17,  1757,  when  the  degree  of  bachelor  of  arts  was  conferred  upon 
seven  students. 

In  1765  a  school  of  medicine,  the  first  in  Xorth  America,  was  added 
to  the  college,  and  in  1790  a  professorship  in  law. 

In  1779  all  the  charter  rights  and  privileges  of  the  college  were 
absorbed  by  a  new  organization,  called  in  its  charter  "The  Trustees  of 

267 


Pennsylvania  and  Its  Manifold  .Iciivitics 

the  University  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania."  'J'hus  it  was  the  first  insti- 
tution in  North  America  to  be  called  a  university,  and  including  law, 
medical,  and  academic  departments,  the  first  university  in  fact. 

Jn  1791  another  charter  was  granted  jointly  to  the  trustees  of  the 
Charity  School  and  Academy  of  the  University  and  of  the  College,  under 
the  corporate  name  of  "The  University  of  Pennsylvania,"  which  name  it 


MEMORIAL    TOWER    AT    ENTRA^•CE    TO    NEW    DORMITORIES,    UNIVERSITY    OF 
PENNSYLVANIA 

has  borne  ever  since.  The  early  history  of  the  university  was  closely 
associated  with  the  principal  events  in  the  history  of  the  colonies,  and 
also  in  the  war  with  Great  Britain  for  independence,  in  which  many  of 
its  sons  took  a  leading  part.  Among  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  were  ten  men  who  were  either  graduates  of  the  college  or 
among  its  founders  and  trustees. 

In  1802  the  university  buildings  were  removed  to  Ninth  and  Chestnut 
streets,  where,  a  century  and  a  quarter  after  its  organization,  the  university 
again  found  itself  located  in  one  of  the  most  congested  sections  of  Phila- 
delphia. In  1873  it  removed  to  its  present  site  in  West  Philadelphia, 
where  it  now  occupies  more  than  70  buildings,  upon  a  tract  of  116  acres 


268 


Colleges  of  Peiiiisyl'i'iiiiiii 

along  the  Scluiylkill  River.  Here  its  growth  was  most  reinarkahle.  In 
1874  the  University  Hospital  was  establislied.  In  the  year  following  the 
Towne  Scientific  School  was  added  to  the  college.  This  school  com- 
prehends the  courses  in  architecture,  in  mechanical  engineering,  electrical 
engineering,  civil  engineering,  chemistry,  and  chemical  engineering.  In 
rapid    succession    followed    the    Department    of    Music.    Department    of 


HOUSTON    H.\LL    (STUDENTS     CLUIiHOrsi 


CXXSVLV.'KNIA 


Dentistry,  the  Wharton  School  of  Finance  and  Commerce,  Department 
of  Philosophy  (The  Graduate  School),  Department  of  Veterinary  Medi- 
cine, the  Veterinary  Hospital,  the  Department  of  Physical  Education, 
the  Department  of  Archaeology  and  University  Museum,  General  Library, 
Training  School  for  Nurses,  Wistar  Institute  of  Anatomy  and  Biology, 
Laboratory  of  Hygiene,  College  Courses  for  Teachers,  Flower  Astro- 
nomical Observatory,  Evening  School  of  Accounts  and  Finance,  the  Sum- 
mer School,  and  the  Phipps  Institute  for  the  Study,  Prevention,  and 
Treatment  of  Tuberculosis.  The  curriculum  now  includes  almost  every 
branch  of  higher  education  and  scientific  research. 

The  enrollment  of  students  averages  more  than  5000  annually, 
drawn  from  40  to  50  foreign  nations,  and  from  every  State  in  the  Lhiion. 
The  teaching  staff  numbers  about  600.  The  30,000  living  alumni  are 
scattered  over  the  entire  world,  and  Universitv  of  Pennsylvania  alumni 


269 


Pciuisyli'aiiin   ami   Its   Manifold  .Ictrritics 


ColU'f/cs  of  f\viiisyli'(nii(i 

societies  are  tlourishini;-  in  all  ]ar,i;c  ci  )miiniiiities.  The  university  i';  not 
the  gr(nvtli  of  a  few  years,  uv  the  i^ift  «>f  a  few:  it  stands  to-day  as  a 
nionunieiit  to  lo_\al  sti])])ort  of  its  alumni  and  the  generosity  of  tlie  city 
and    State  and  citizens. 

The    I'ni'vcrslty    of    Pittshiir<//i    was    chartered     h'ehruary    28,    1787. 
as  the   Pittshurgh   Academy,  hence  it  is  one  of  the  oldest  institutions  of 


PLAN    or    TiiK    ^^•lvl•;I■!^lT^•    i>\-    pittskurgh 

learning  west  of  the  Allegheny  jMountains.  In  1819  the  original  charter 
was  enlarged  and  the  name  changed  to  the  \\'estern  L^iiversity  of  Penn- 
sylvania. The  State  at  that  time  appropriated  to  the  university  43  acres 
of  land  in  Allegheny,  but  the  title  failing,  the  grant  was  commuted  into 
mone}-  for  the  erection  of  the  iirst  university  building.  There  are  at 
the  universitv  courses  of  study  in  medicine,  law,  dentistry,  pharmacy,  and 
engineering,  and  there  is  also  a  School  of  Astronomy. 

The  University  of  Pittsburgh  has  lately  greatly  enlarged  the  sco^jc 
of  its  engineering  departments,  and  announced  in  Kjii  the  establishment 
of  a  new  Department  of  Industrial  Research.  Industrial  researches  are 
being  carried  out  at  this  university  through  the  sympathetic  co-operation 
of  various  industrial  corjjorations  having  important  problems  for  solution. 
Each  industrial  research  is  conducted  through  a  definite  agreement 
between  the  university  and  the  corporation  concerned.  The  essential 
features  of  this  agreement  are  as  follows:  The  corporation  has  a  prol:)lem 
the  solution  of  wdiich  is  of  public  importance.  It  places  in  the  hands  of  the 
university  a  definite  sum,  which  is  paid  over  to  the  fellow  appointed  to  the 
investigation  in  monthly  installments.  To  a  discreet  and  reasonable  extent 
it  "co-operates  with  the  university  toward  the  solution  of  this  problem  by 
afifording  large-scale   opportunities    for   experimentation. 

The  university  provides  the  fellow  appointed  to  the  investigation 
with  a  laboratory  of  his  own  anfl  with  all  experimental,  library,  and  con- 
sultative facilities  which  a  university  may  be  expected  to  furnish  for  any 


271 


Pcniisylfaiiia  and  Its  Manifold  Activities 

investigation.  In  the  case  of  problems  of  large  scope  and  importance,  the 
investigations  are  conducted  by  a  group  of  fellows.  Owing  to  the  fact 
that  of  necessity  each  investigator  is  a  high  specialist  in  the  industry 
concerned  in  his  investigation,  he  is  particularly  able  to  instruct  the  young 
men  desirous  of  entering  that  industry  as  chemical  engineer.  Hence  this 
institution  of  industrial  researcli  will  inevitably  be  a  school  of  chemical 
engineering,  with  a  stafif  unique  in  its  numbers  and  in  the  scope  of  its 
interests. 

The  School  of  Engineering  in  its  co-operative  work  is  a  feature  of 
the  engineering  courses.  By  this  plan  the  student  gets  the  usual 
theoretical  course,  and  in  addition  12  months  of  practical  work — four 
terms  of  three  months  each  in  the  l^est  engineering  industries  of  Pitts- 
burgh district — accumulating  actual  shop  experience.  In  the  mechanical 
ecjuipment  are  included  a  materials-testing' laboratory,  a  hydraulic  labora- 
tory, a  steam  and  power  laboratory,  dynamo,  electrical  standardizing  and 
photometrical  laboratories.  The  buildings  and  equipment  at  the  univer- 
sity are  all  new.     The  faculty  numbers  250  and  there  are  1895  students. 

The  Pennsylvania  State  College,  at  State  College,  was  established 
by  the  Morrill  Act,  passed  by  Congress  July  2,  1862,  and  a  reciprocal 
act  of  the  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania,  April  i,  1863.  As  early  as  1855 
a  charter  had  been  issued  to  certain  public-spirited  citizens  under  the 
patronage  of  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture,  and  in  1859  an  institution 
for  secondary  agricultural  education  was  opened  at  the  present  location 
under  the  name  of  "The  Farmers'  High  School,"  and  the  first  class  was 
graduated  in  1861.  Under  the  new  establishment  the  name  was  changed 
in  1874  to  The  Pennsylvania  State  College.  Some  of  the  trustees  are 
ex-officio  State  officials,  others  are  appointed  by  the  governor,  others 
are  chosen  by  the  alumni  of  the  college,  and  still  others  are  elected  by 
delegates  from  industrial  organizations  of  the  State.  The  growth  was 
small  until  1887,  when  the  State  began  a  regular  biennial  appropriation 
to  the  institution,  the  total  of  which  to  191 1  aggregates  $3,565,726.43. 
The  growth  in  total  attendance  of  students  by  decades  is  as  follows : 
1891,  209;  1901,  433;  191 1,  2007. 

The  present  force  of  instructors  numbers  190.  No  tuition  is  charged, 
but  preference  in  admission  is  given  to  residents  of  the  State.  A  very 
small  percentage  of  the  students  come  from  other  States  and  foreign 
countries.  There  are  five  schools — agriculture,  engineering,  liberal  arts, 
mining,  and  natural  science — also  a  department  in  home  economics.  In 
these  schools  36  courses  of  study  are  ofifered,  leading  to  the  bachelor's 


Collc(/i\<;  of  Pcniisyli'uiiia 

degree.  Courses  are  also  offered  leading  to  the  master's  degree.  Con- 
nected with  the  School  of  Agriculture  is  an  experiment  station  whose 
projects  are  connected  with  problems  of  animal  breeding,  agronomy, 
forestry,  horticulture,  and  dairying.  Complete  records  are  available  for 
the  fertilizer  plots  for  the  last  thirty  years — probably  the  longest  con- 
tinuous results  ()l)tained  in  the  United  States.     The  School  of  Engineering 


DICKINSON    COLLEGE.         OLD    WEST 

also  maintains  an  experiment  station,  in  which  problems  of  heating,  light- 
ing, refrigeration,  aviation,  the  use  of  concrete,  and  the  like  are  under 
present  consideration.  Six  hundred  acres  of  farm  land  are  owned  by 
the  college,  part  of  which  is  devoted  to  experimental  farming,  part  to 
forestry  wood  lots,  and  part  to  campus.  The  total  value  of  land  and 
buildings  is  $1,444,369. 

Lehigh  University  was  founded  by  Asa  Packer,  of  Mauch  Chunk, 
who,  in  1865,  gave  $500,000,  to  which  he  added  115  acres  of  land  in 
South  Bethlehem,  to  establish  an  educational  institution  in  tlie  Lehigh 
Valley.  The  university  was  incorporated  by  the  Legislature  by  act 
approved  February  9,  1866.  In  addition  to  these  gifts,  made  during  his 
lifetime,  Judge   Packer  by  his  last  will  gave  to  the  university  and  its 


273 


rcniisylvaiiia  and  Its  MiUilfold  .Ictiz'itics 

library  an  ciuIowiik'iU  of  $2,000,000.  The  original  object  of  Jndge  I'acker 
was  to  afford  tlic  yonng  men  oi  ihc  Lehigh  X'alley  a  complete  education, 
technical,  literary,  and  scientitic,  for  those  ])rofessions  represented  in  the 
development  of  the  peculiar  resources  of  the  surrounding  region.  The 
courses  are  arts  and  science,  civil  engineering,  mechanical  engineering, 
metallurgical  engineering,  electrometallurgy,  mining  engineering,  electrical 
engineering,  chemistry,  chemical  engineering. 

The  uni\ersiiy  has  long  recognized  the  advantage  of  a  broader  educa- 
tion for  an  engineer  than  is  possible  within  the  limitations  of  the  com- 
monly accepted  entrance  requirements  for  an  engineering  course.  The 
number  of  college  graduates  who  choose  engineering  as  a  profession  is 
increasing  from  year  to  year.  In  1910,  655  students  were  registered. 
The  college  buildings  are  valued  at  $1,600,000,  and  the  liljrary,  of 
125,000  volumes,  is  valued  at  $250,000. 

Biickiiell  University,  at  Lewisburg,  a  Baptist  college,  was  founded 
1846.  It  is  co-educational,  and  there  is  an  enrollment  of  517  men  and 
229  women  students,  with  48  instructors.  The  library,  containing  30,500 
volumes,  is  valued  at  $20,000.  The  endowment  fund  is  $735,000,  while 
the  college  buildings  are  valued  at  $210,000. 

Dickinson  College,  at  Carlisle,  was  granted  a  charter  by  the  General 
Assembly  in  1783.  iXmong  those  who  were  adherents  to  the  plan  for  the 
college  were  Benjamin  Rush,  a  signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
and  surgeon-general  of  the  Revolutionary  Army,  and  John  Dickinson, 
one  of  the  authors  of  the  Declaration  and  chief  magistrate  of  the  State. 
Among  those  wdio  contributed  liberally  to  the  college  during  the  early 
days  were  Thomas  Jefferson,  Count  de  la  Luzerne,  ambassador  from 
France,  and  seventeen  members  of  Congress.  One  of  the  earliest  schools 
for  law  in  the  United  States  was  established  at  Carlisle  in  1834  by  Hon. 
John  Reed.  While  under  his  supervision  the  school  was  regarded  as 
part  of  Dickinson  ;  but  at  his  death  the  law  course  ceased  to  be  repre- 
sented in  the  college.  At  a  meeting  held  February  9,  1890,  by  the  Board 
of  Trustees  it  was  voted  to  again  re-establish  the  School  of  Law.  It 
now  has  yy  students.  The  college  is  co-educational,  and  has  in  all  its 
courses  552  students.  It  has  a  library  valued  at  $62,000,  containing 
43,000  volumes.  The  buildings  are  valued  at  $580,980,  and  the  endow- 
ment fund  is  $387,194. 

Temple  University,  Philadelphia,  was  organized  in  1884,  and  the 
charter  was  granted  in  1888.  It  is  a  non-sectarian  school,  with  an 
enrollment  in  1910  of  2206  men  and  1414  women  students.    There  were, 


274 


CoUctics  of  I'ciiiisylz'aiiid 

at  that  time.  230  instructors.  The  course  has  many  departments,  among 
them  law  and  me(Hcine.  There  is  connected  with  the  university  a  library 
of  8000  volumes.     The  buildings  are  valued  at  $540,000. 

Lafayette  College,  at  Easton,  received  its  charter  in  1826,  at  the  time 
of  General  Lafayette's  visit  to  America.  There  were  enrolled,  in  1910, 
464  students,  with  43   instructors.      It  has   been   dislinguished    from   the 


PENNSYLVANIA   STATE   COLLEGE,    MAIN    BUILDING   AND   AUDITORIUM 


first  for  the  thoroughness  of  instruction  given,  particularly  in  the  sciences, 
mathematics,  and  the  classics.  There  are  40  acres  of  campus,  with  several 
miles  of  walks  and  drives.  There  are  40  buildings  upon  the  campus, 
and  the  value  of  the  property  is  $866,805.  The  endowment  fund  is 
$613,429.27. 

Bryn  Mazi'r,  a  college  for  women,  located  at  Bryn  Mawr,  near 
Philadelphia,  was  granted  a  charter  in  1880.  There  are  registered  at  the 
college  425  young  women,  with  58  instructors.  The  library  of  60,000 
volumes  is  valued  at  $348,620.  The  buildings  are  valued  at  $1,949,191. 
The  college  is  endowed  with  $1,644,530. 

Grove  City  College,  located  at  Grove  City,  was  founded  in  1876,  and 
the  charter  was  granted  in   1879.     There  are  20  instructors,  and  during 


275 


Pciuisylranit!  and  Jts  Manifold  Activities 


276 


Colleges  of  Peunsyh'atiia 

the  year  1910  400  men  and  250  women  slndenls  were  enrolled.  The 
college  buildings  are  valued  at  $379,000,  and  there  is  an  endowment  fund 
of  $25,000. 

Jiiitiata  College,  at  Huntingdon,  was  chartered  in  1878.  It  is  co-edu- 
cational. There  are  24  instructors,  with  423  students.  The  library  is 
valued  at  $35,000,  and  contains  28,000  volumes.  There  is  an  endowment 
fund  (^f  $115,000,  and  the  college  buildings  are  valued  at  $170,000. 

JVashiiigtoiv  and  Jefferson,  Washington,  was  the  first  college  estab- 
lished west  of  the  Alleghenies.  In  1787,  Washington  Academy  was  char- 
tered, and  later  on  became  Washington  College.  It  united  with  Jefferson 
College  in  1869,  and  since  then  has  been  known  under  its  present  name. 
In  1790  Benjamin  Franklin  donated  50  pounds  to  the  institution,  which 
money  laid  the  foundation  for  the  present  college  library.  The  college 
endowment  in  1910  was  $635,000,  and  the  buildings  and  grounds  have  a 
valuation  of  $475,000.  The  present  staff  of  instructors  numbers  28,  and 
there  are  over  400  students,  men  and  women. 

St.  Jlncent  College,  situated  at  Beatty,  was  organized  in  1846  and 
chartered  in  1870.  It  is  a  Roman  Catholic  institution.  There  are  23 
instructors  and  383  students.     There  is  a  library  of  45,000  volumes. 

Swarthmore  College,  Swarthmore,  was  founded  in  1864  by  the 
Society  of  Friends,  but  nothing  sectarian  exists  in  either  instruction  or 
management.  It  is  co-educational,  398  students  being  enrolled  in  191 1. 
There  are  45  instructors.  Among  the  courses  are  those  of  chemical, 
mechanical,  civil,  and  electrical  engineering.  The  library,  with  its  39,085 
volumes,  is  valued  at  $45,000,  and  the  college  buildings  at  $925,000.  The 
school  is  heavily  endowed,  having  a  fund  of  $1,010,000. 

TJie  Augnstinian  College  of  Villa  Nova,  situated  at  Villa  Nova,  near 
Philadelphia,  and  founded  in  1842,  is  a  Roman  Catholic  institution. 
There  are  370  students,  with  35  instructors.  The  college  buildings  are 
valued  at  $r, 000,000,  and  the  library,  with  12,500  volumes,  is  valued  at 
$125,000. 

JJ'ilsoii  College,  Chambersburg,  was  chartered  in  1869.  It  is  a  college 
for  women,  and  has  365  students.  It  has  a  library  of  9000  volumes, 
valued  at  $8000,  and  the  value  of  the  buildings,  15  in  all,  is  estimated  at 
about  $350,000.     There  are  36  instructors. 

Geneva  College,  at  Beaver  Falls,  was  chartered  in  1850.  It  is 
co-educational,  having  170  men  and  188  women  students,  with  a  teaching 
corps  of  15.  It  has  an  endowment  fund  of  $200,000,  and  the  college 
buildings  are  valued  at  $175,000. 

277 


rciiiisyk'aiiia  cnid  Its  Manifold  .Ictizitics 

Allegheny  College,  at  .Mcadville,  was  founded  in  1815  by  the  ^Icth- 
odist  Episcopal  denomination.  It  is  co-educational,  with  339  students 
registered  in  1910,  and  having  19  instructors.  It  is  endowed  with  $465,000, 
has  a  library  of  31,500  volumes,  valued  at  $60,000,  and  the  college  build- 
ings are  \alued  at  $544,000. 


SWARTHMORE     rOLLEGE,     M.\IX     BUILDING 

Siisc]uehan)ia  University,  at  Selinsgrove,  is  a  Lutheran  School.  It 
has  an  endowment  fund  of  $55,000,  and  the  buildings  are  valued  at 
$240,000.  It  is  co-educational,  having  an  enrollment  of  317  students.  It 
employs  22  instructors.  There  is  a  library  valued  at  $15,000,  containing 
15,000  volumes. 

Pennsylvania  College,  at  Gettysburg,  was  granted  a  charter  in  1832. 
It  was  founded  by  the  Lutherans.  It  is  co-educational,  304  students 
being  enrolled,  with  21  instructors.  It  is  endowed  with  a  fund  of  $195,000, 
and  has  a  library  of  30,052  volumes,  valued  at  $16,000.  The  buildings 
are  valued  at  $321,000. 

Westminster  College,  situated  at  New  Wilmington,  was  chartered  in 
1852  by  United  Presbyterians.  It  has  an  enrollment  of  137  men  and  164 
women  students.  There  is  a  teaching  force  of  23.  Its  library  is  valued 
at  $14,000,  and  the  college  buildings  at  $269,500.  There  is  an  endowment 
fund  of  $163,000. 

Waynesburg  College,  Waynesburg,  was  founded  in  1849.  It  is  a 
college  for  men,  and  has  290  students  registered.   There  are  14  instructors. 


278 


Colleges  of  Peinisyl-raiiia 

It  has  an  cndownienl  fund  of  $75,000,  and  the  college  buiUlings  are  valued 
at  $257,000. 

Franklin  and  Marshall  College,  Lancaster,  was  formed  by  the  union 
of  two  older  educational  institutions,  which  in  their  independent  existence 
labored  for  common  ideals  and  aims  and  ministered  to  a  common  con- 
stituency. Franklin  College  had  been  maintained  in  Lancaster  for  45 
years,  and  Marshall  College  had  thrived  for  17  years  in  Merccrsburg, 
when  by  an  act  of  the  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania  they  were  merged  and 
consolidated  under  the  name  of  Franklin  and  Marshall  College,  to  be 
located  in  the  city  of  Lancaster,  or  its  immediate  vicinity.  The  charter 
of  Franklin  and  Marshall  College  was  granted  March  10,  1787.  Among 
the  first  trustees  were  four  signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
seven  officers  of  the  War  of  the  Revolution,  three  who  became  governors 
of  Pennsylvania,  two  distinguished  jurists,  and  two  who  became  senators 
of  the  United  States.  Founded  in  the  interest  of  Germans,  it  was  never 
intended  to  be,  as  it  never  became,  exclusively  a  German  institution,  but 
it  served  to  foster  an  appreciation  of  German  life  and  literature.  The 
enrollment  of  the  college  in  1910  was  241.  The  endowment  fund 
amounts  to  $303,000. 

Lebanon  Valley  College,  Annville,  was  founded  in  1866  by  the  United 
Brethren.  There  are  23  instructors  and  132  men  and  95  women  students. 
There  is  an  endowment  fund  of  $40,000.  The  college  buildings  are  valued 
at  $240,000. 

AlhrigJit  College,  a  United  Evangelical  institution,  is  located  at 
Myerstown.  It  was  founded  in  1881  and  chartered  in  1895.  It  is 
co-educational,  188  students  being  enrolled.     It  is  endowed  with  $100,000. 

Beaver  College,  situated  at  Beaver,  was  founded  in  1853  by  Methodist 
Episcopalians.  It  is  co-educational,  having  an  enrollment  of  160  students. 
There  are  16  instructors.  The  college  is  endowed.  Buildings  are  valued 
at  $105,000. 

Haverford  College,  Haverford,  was  founded  in  1833,  by  the  Society 
of  Friends.  It  has  a  teaching  force  of  20,  and  159  students.  It  is  very 
heavily  endowed,  having  a  fund  of  $1,500,000.  It  has  55,000  volumes  in 
the  library.    The  college  buildings  are  valued  at  $1,500,000. 

Ur sinus  College,  Collegeville,  was  founded  in  1869.  It  is  co-educa- 
tional, having  95  men  and  40  women  enrolled,  with  16  instructors.  The 
endowment  fund  is  $211,100.  The  college  has  a  library  of  14,000  volumes, 
and  the  college  buildings  are  valued  at  $158,050. 

Irving  College,  at  Mechanicsburg,  a  college  for  women,  was  founded 

279 


rciiiisylraiiiii  and  Its  Mauijohl  Actiritics 

in  1856.  It  has  a  teacliing  f(jrcc  of  18,  with  an  cnrolhnent  of  132  stndcnts. 
T\\c  collci^c  huilihns^s  arc  valued  at  $100,000. 

MiihlcJihcrf/  College,  Allentown,  was  founded  l)y  the  I^utherans  in 
1867.  There  are  113  students  enrolled,  with  13  instructors.  The  college 
buildings,  erected  1902-04,  are  handsome  and  artistic,  and  represent  a 
total  valuation  of  about  $350,000.  The  college  occupies  now  a  tract  of 
about  55  acres. 

Allentown  College  for  Jl'onien  is  located  near  the  central  part  of 
the  city  of  Allentown.     Total  enrollment  is  172. 

Peiinsylzvnia  College  for  Jfoiiieii,  at  I'ittsljurgh,  was  founded  1869. 
There  are  18  instructors  and  107  women  enrolled  as  students.  There  is 
a  library  valued  at  $10,000  connected  with  the  college,  and  the  other 
buildings  are  valued  at  $500,000. 

Thiel  College,  founded  in  1870,  is  located  at  Greenville.  It  is  of  the 
Lutheran  denomination,  and  there  are  8  instructors  and  60  men  and  43 
women  students.  It  has  an  endowment  fund  of  $40,000  and  buildings 
valued  at  $60,000. 

Moravian  College,  founded  in  1807  by  Moravians,  is  located  in  Beth- 
lehem. There  are  6  instructors  and  64  men  enrolled  as  students.  There 
is  a  library  of  10,000  volumes.  The  college  has  an  endowment  fund  of 
$115,000,  and  the  buildings  are  valued  at  $100,000. 


280 


special  Schools  and  Colleges 

THERE  is  an  increasing  tendency,  in  the  founding  of  new 
schools  in  Pennsylvania,  to  adapt  the  courses  of  study  to  the 
special  needs  of  the  State.  This  tendency  is  illustrated  in  the 
founding  of  such  institutions  as  Carnegie  Technical  Schools  and  the 
Thaddeus  Stevens  Industrial  School.  And  the  eminently  practical 
thought  of  the  founders  of  a  numl^er  of  other  institutions  is  disclosed 
by  a  consideration  of  their  purposes. 

Carnegie  Technical  Schools,  Pittsburgh,  were  built  and  endowed  by 
Andrew  Carnegie.  The  city  of  Pittsburgh  donated  a  site  of  32  acres, 
and  the  schools  are  planned  to  accommodate  4000  students.  There  are 
four  separate  schools — a  School  of  Applied  Science,  School  of  x^ppren- 
tices  and  Journeymen,  School  of  Applied  Design  and  a  Technical  School 
for  Women.  There  are  day  and  night  courses  in  all  the  schools.  The 
schools  have  laboratories,  provided  with  costly  equipment  for  the  testing 
of  all  building  materials,  including,  stone,  brick,  cement,  concrete,  and 
steel :  also  a  mechanical  engineering  laboratory,  for  testing  machinery  and 
adjustment  of  weights  and  measures. 

The  laboratories  of  Carnegie  Technical  have  recently  been  the  scene 
of  a  series  of  exceptionally  interesting  tests  of  expanded  metal  used  in 
concrete  construction.  Valuable  data  also  has  been  secured  from  tests  of 
structural  material  and  of  pipe  during  the  last  18  months.  The  materials- 
testing  and  mechanical-engineering  laboratory  equipment  at  the  school 
includes  apparatus  for  determining  the  physical  properties  of  iron,  steel, 
cement,  reinforced  concrete,  stone,  brick,  wood,  and  other  materials. 
There  are  two  Olsen  standard  testing  machines,  one  of  30,000  pounds 
and  the  other  of  100,000  pounds  capacity;  two  Riehle  testing  machines  of 
15,000  pounds  capacity  each;  an  Ameler-Lafifon  hydraulic  beam-testing 
machine  for  uniformly  distributed  load,  and  of  280,000  pounds  capacity ; 
an  Olsen  hydraulic  compression-testing  machine  of  50,000  pounds  capac- 
ity, for  testing  building  materials ;  a  beam-testing  machine  of  20,000 
pounds  capacity,  for  testing  timber ;  an  Ameler-Laffon  torsion  machine  of 
1000  foot-pounds  capacity ;  a  Brinell  hardness-testing  machine  and  a  Shore 
scleroscope  for  testing  the  hardness  of  metals ;  a  Landgraf-Turner  alter- 

281 


Pcniisxh'ania  and  Jts  Mciiiifuld  .Ictiiitics 

nating  impact  testing  machine;  a  Jviehlc  al)rasi()n  macliinc.  for  testing  the 
wearing  qualities  of  Ijuilding  materials;  an  Olsen  aljrasion  cylinder,  for 
testing  paving  bricks,  and  a  complete  equi])ment  of  cement-lesting 
apparatus.  The  present  faculty  numbers  160,  and  the  student  body  2450. 
Girard  College,  Philadelphia,  is  among  the  most  notal)le  of  the  educa- 
tional institutions  of  the  United  States.     It  was  founded  under  the  will 


(*5'-°'v' 


■     M 


PLAN     OF     CARNEGIE     TECHNICAL     SCHOOLS,     FOR      WHICH      MR.     CARNEGIE     HAS 
DONATED  $8,000,000 

of  Stephen  Girard,  and  gives  a  free  education  to  fatherless  boys.  The 
extent  of  this  philanthropy  is  shown  by  the  statement  that  more  than 
1500  boys  are  supported  and  educated  in  this  college.  Alany  of  the  boys 
entering  Girard  College  are  so  young  that  they  are  not  able  to  dress 
themselves,  and  they  need  constant  and  careful  attention  for  every  detail 
of  their  lives.  They  also  need  "mothering,"  and  that  personal  interest 
which  can  only  be  given  by  a  governess.  There  are,  therefore,  a  corps 
of  upward  of  a  score  of  governesses.  These  orphans  leave  (Hrard  with 
a  college  education  along  practical  lines,  a  kit  of  tools  on  their  l)ack,  and 
money  in  their  pocket. 

No  provision  of  the  will  of  Stephen  Girard  or  no  fact  in  connection 
with  the  administration  of  the  college  is  so  widely  heralded  or  the  cause 
of  so  much  unfavorable  comment  as  is  the  prohibition  on  the  part  of  the 
founder  imposed  against  the  admission  of  any  ordained  ecclesiastic, 
missionary,  or  minister  within  the  enclosure  for  any  duty  or  even  as  a 
visitor  on  any  premises  appropriated  for  the  use  of  the  college.     It  would 

282 


special  Schools  and  Colleges 

be  unforlunate  to  consider  the  aljove  ])r()liibiti()n  without  i)utting  with  it 
the  statement  which  immediately  follows  in  the  will — viz.:  "Jn  making 
this  restriction,  I  do  not  mean  to  cast  any  reflection  upon  any  sect  or 
person  whatsoever:  hut.  as  there  is  such  a  multitude  of  sects,  and  such 
a  diversity  of  opinion  amongst  them,  1  desire  to  kec]^  the  tender  minds 
of  the  orphans,  who  are  to  derive  advantage  I'rom  this  be(|uest,  free  from 


A     VIKW    OF    LEHIGH     UNIVERSITY 


the  excitements  which  clashing  doctrines  and  sectarian  controversy  are 
so  apt  to  produce ;  my  desire  is,  that  all  the  instructors  and  teachers  in 
the  college  shall  take  pains  to  instill  into  the  minds  of  the  scholars  the 
purest  principles  of  morality,  so  that,  on  their  entrance  into  active  life, 
they  may,  from  inclination  and  habit,  evince  benevolence  tozvard  their 
felloxv-creatures,  and  a  love  of  truth,  sobriety,  and  industry,  adopting  at 
the  same  time  such  religious  tenets  as  their  matured  reason  may  enable 
them  to  prefer." 

This  prohibition,  as  well  as  an  earlier  one  requiring  that  every  person 
who  should  ever  be  employed  in  the  college  should  be  of  established  moral 
character,  and  further,  that  moral  training  was  to  be  given,  point  clearly 
to  the  fact  that  Stephen  Girard  did  not  wish  an  atheistic  institution. 


283 


BRIG.  GEN.  WILLIAM  H.  BI.\BV 

(Chief  of  Engineers  U.  S.  A.) 

General  President 


GE.N.  C.  W.  RAY.MOND 
(U.  S.  A.,  Retired) 
General  President 


COL.  HARRY   F.  HODGES 

(Corps  of  Engineers   U.  S.  A. 

President  2d  Section 


LIEUT.   COL.   J.   C.   SANFORD 

(Corps  of   Engineers  U.  S.  A.) 

General   Secretary 


COL.    JOHN    BOGART 

President  1st  Section 


special  Schools  and   Collc(/cs 

The  total  cx])en(Iitiires  for  (iirard  College  in  the  year  1910  amounted 
to  $631,579.73. 

Drexel  Itistitutc,  I'hiladelijhia,  was  loiin(le<l  in  1891,  by  Anthony  J. 
Drexel,  for  the  promotion  of  education  in  art,  science,  and  industry.  The 
chief  object  of  the  institute  is  the  extension  and  improvement  of  indus- 
trial education  as  a  means  of  opening  better  and  wider  avenues  of  employ- 
ment to  young  men  and  young  women.  The  academic  departments  ])ro- 
vide  for  the  general  development  and  liberal  training  of  the  mind  and 
character  of  the  students,  and  in  the  more  si)ecial  and  technical  courses 
the  same  end  is  kept  in  view,  so  far  as  the  necessary  limitations  of  the 
instruction  permit.  In  accordance  with  the  founder's  intention,  the  plan 
of  organization  has  been  made  so  comprehensive  as  to  provide  lil)eral 
means  of  culture  for  the  masses,  by  means  of  evening  classes  in  all  the 
departments  of  the  institute ;  by  free  public  lectures  and  concerts  during 
the  winter  months ;  and  through  the  library,  museum,  and  picture  gallery, 
which  are  open  free  to  the  public  throughout  the  year.  There  is  a  total 
enrollment  of  2600,  of  whom  1000  are  day  pupils  and  1600  evening  pupils. 

TJic  Thaddcus  Stevens  Industrial  School  of  Pennsylvania,  Lancaster, 
was  founded  by  Thaddeus  Stevens,  who  made  a  becjuest  for  the  education 
of  deserving  boys  in  trades  and  industrial  pursuits.  By  the  year  1903 
this  fund  had  accumulated  to  a  sum  not  far  from  $70,000.  On  January 
31,  1905,  a  bill  for  the  founding  of  the  Thaddeus  Stevens  Industrial 
School  was  introduced  into  the  Legislature,  which  was  passed  without  a 
dissenting  vote,  carrying  an  appro])riation  of  $50,000.  In  1907  another 
appropriation  of  $100,000  was  secured  by  a  unanimous  vote,  and  in  1909 
an  appropriation  of  $40,000  was  passed  for  maintenance.  The  directors 
of  the  poor  of  Lancaster  County  donated  25  acres  as  a  site  for  the  school. 
The  purpose  of  the  school  is  to  give  poor  and  deserving  boys  a  good 
English  education  and  to  train  them  in  habits  of  morality,  economy  and 
industry,  and  to  teach  them  mechanical  trades.  Preference  in  admission 
is  given:  First,  to  indigent  orphans;  second,  to  other  orphans;  third,  to 
poor  boys  at  large. 

The  superintendents,  teachers,  and  pupils  of  the  public  schools  of 
Pennsylvania  contributed  $11,575.38  toward  the  establishment  of  the 
school.  This  contribution  was  evidence  of  the  appreciation  of  the  services 
of  Mr.  Stevens  in  saving  the  common  school  law  from  repeal  in  1835. 
The  school  differs  radically  from  a  manual  training  high  school.  The 
pupil  learns  a  trade  thoroughly,  and  on  graduation  takes  his  place  as  a 
skilled  workman  in  the  industrial  activities  of  the  country.    The  education 

285 


I'ciinsyh'aiiia  and   Its   Mdiiifold  .Icliiitics 

which  is  here  i^ix-cn  is  (losigiicd  to  lit  tlic  i^Taduates  t(_)  become  fcjremen 
in  the  several  trades  which  they  liave  chosen. 

Carlisle  Indian  School  is  Icjcated  at  Carlisle,  19  miles  from  Ilarris- 
bnry.  The  school  was  originally  cavalry  barracks,  and  here,  in  1775, 
Franklin  made  a  treaty  of  peace  with  the  Indians.  During  the  I^evolu- 
tionary  War  Hessians  were  kept  prisoners  here,  and  during  that  time  they 
built  a  large  stone  guard  house  of  unique  construction,  which  is  still 
standing.  It  was  donated  in  1879  by  the  Interior  Department  for  the 
purpose  of  beginning  an  educational  establishment  for  Indians.  This 
was  the  first  school  of  its  kind  to  be  opened  by  the  Government,  and  the 
first  to  receive  Congressional  recognition  and  appropriation.  It  was 
opened  on  October  6,  1879,  when  82  Indians  arrived  from  the  Sioux 
reservation.  The  second  party,  containing  47  Indians,  came  the  following 
November.  The  school  is  supported  by  the  Federal  Government,  and  it 
has  been  specifically  provided  for  by  Congress  since  1883. 

The  purpose  is  to  train  Indian  youth  of  both  sexes  to  take  upon 
themselves  the  duties  of  citizenship.  The  plant  consists  of  50  buildings 
and  311  acres  of  land.  The  school  campus  has  26  acres.  Both  boys  and 
girls  are  taught  here,  and  board  and  clothing  is  furnished  to  all  students. 
There  is  absolute  freedom  as  to  the  religious  belief  of  each  student. 
The  students  publish  and  print  a  weekly  newspaper,  The  Carlisle  Arroiv; 
also  a  monthly  magazine.  The  Red  Man.  The  government  of  the  boys 
is  military  only  so  far  as  is  necessary.  M.  Friedman  is  the  superintendent, 
and  James  E.  Henderson  is  commandant  of  cadets.  The  boys  have  a 
band  of  40  members,  and  seven  troops  of  dismounted  cavalry.  There 
are  at  present  1218  students  enrolled,  coming  from  87  tribes.  The  boys 
are  taught  all  trades,  even  photography,  while  the  girls  are  especially 
trained  in  housekeeping,  nursing,  and  sewing. 

Carlisle  has  291  workers  in  the  Indian  service.  Last  year,  191 1, 
under  the  Department  of  Indian  Employment,  the  Indians  earned 
$374,783.40.  Out  of  the  total  of  514  graduates,  only  five  have  been  so- 
called  failures  ;  the  rest  have  made  a  marked  success  in  the  careers  they 
have  chosen. 

One  of  the  most  successful  enterprises  which  the  ( ioxernment  con- 
ducts in  connection  with  the  Indian  service  is  the  work  of  finding  em- 
ployment for  Indians  both  old  and  young.  This  system  is  an  out- 
growth of  the  Outing  System  at  Carlisle.  Under  this  system  the  girls 
are  sent  into  carefully  selected  homes  during  the  winter  and  summer 
months. 

286 


S/^rciai  Schools  and  Colleges 

The  young-  men  go  into  homes  in  a  siinilar  way,  working  on  farms 
and  imi)ihing  the  best  forms  of  civilization.  In  the  last  two  years  a 
large  numher  of  stiuients  have  been  sent  out  to  work  with  contractors, 
in  shops  and  manufacturing  establishments.  Gratifying  results  have  been 
obtained  in  extending  the  system  to  the  entire  Indian  field.  Under  its 
jurisdiction  the  Indians  have  demonstrated  that  they  have  real  mechani- 
cal ingenuity,  and  are  being  employed  in  factories  and  by  some  of 
the  largest  railroads  of  the  country. 

The  Carlisle  School  has  always  enjoyed  close  co-operation  from  the 
State  of  Pennsyhania.  During  the  last  few  years  the  State  authorities 
have  united  \vith  the  school  in  bringing  to  perfection  certain  lines  of  its 
work.  The  State  ]5ureau  of  Agriculture  has  sent  regularly  its  experts 
to  assist  in  de\eloping  the  orchard  work  in  connection  witli  the  farms. 
The  State  lUireau  of  Fisheries  has  placed  thousands  of  voung  tish  in 
the  school's  spring.  A  number  of  students  have  been  admitted,  without 
charge,  to  the  Mont  Alto  Sanatorium  for  treating  incipient  tuberculosis. 
The  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture  has  assisted  the  school 
in  its  problems  of  drainage  and  farm  management,  and  the  Department 
of  Agriculture  has  detailed  an  expert  to  assist  and  advise  in  connection 
wath  the  farms  and  daily  work  at  the  school.  This  has  resulted  in  marked 
improvement  of  the  two  school  fanus  and  the  dairy. 


287 


Engraved  and  Printed  >?■  the 

Local  Organizing  Commission  of  the 

12tli  International  Congress  ot  Navigation 

by  The  Beck  Engraving  Company 

Philadelphia,  May,  1912 


1     aookstown,      . 


Feiod.l.    BFIeiiiinston 


\  6    w'a  s  h  I  n  g  T|.>.,i,vr=i»T-  / 

+E-— "ClajsviUe  1  EentlcTvillJi'  „'   ."^  f 


lELAWAR! 


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UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


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